Scorching Heat
by Mooncat99
Summary: The unthinkable has happened: Ranger has finally sent Steph to a third world country - or not? - Totally Babe.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Scorching Heat

Author: Mooncat

Summary: The unthinkable has happened: Ranger has finally sent Steph to a third world country - or not?  
Rating: K+  
Spoilers/Warnings: Angst, some hot scenes.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.

_**Scorching Heat**_

_**(It was the cucumber's fault!)**_

**Chapter 1**

I can't believe it! He did it! He really did it!

I mean, yeah, I joked about it… well joked with a little bit of real worry in there, but actually I knew he'd never do it actually!

Guess I've been wrong.

Slowly I stood up and looked around myself in disgust. It was all so… tone in tone. So sandy. So reddish brown beige… ugh. And would someone please put on the air-conditioning?! It was hot here!

I swapped away some of the sweat threatening to fall into my eyes and wished I could find some shadows to get out of the burning sun as I could feel it burning up my skin. And I really wasn't much protected from it in my shorts, a shirt and a sports-bra. At least I had my running shoes on my feet. Ok, if I'd get a sunburn he was sooo gonna die!

What was he thinking? Leave me here all alone, without sun cream, without more clothes, hell not even with water!

The thought about water made my mouth dry. God, what wouldn't I do for a gulp of cool fresh water right now?

Again I looked around myself. What should I do now? Sit here and get baked by the sun until Mr Wiseass thought I had suffered enough? Or rather try to find some help? Or at least some place to give me protection from this stupid sun?

Ok, I rather tended toward the last two options. But there was already the next problem: just where the hell I should go to? It all looked the same. As far as the eye could see there was sand. Well, there were some dunes ahead and left from me, but it still looked all the same. With a sigh I looked up, with a hand covering my eyes from the sun. The sky was deep blue and except of the sun there was nothing to see up there than blueness. Ok, so no stars to direct me. Not that I'd known how to follow them.

Well, what was a girl to do then? Right: Follow the nose. I sniffled. And sneezed. Damn sand… getting into all places you really don't want any sand in. Well, it smelled hot and sandy, if that was even possible. But telling me where to go it did not. Ok, what next? Ah yeah… the good old gut. With a sigh I looked around myself again, trying to see if some of the direction felt better than another.

It did not.

Finally I shrugged and started to walk forward, the sweat running in creeks and soaking my clothes. Hmm, they had been dry when I woke up here. But then, that wasn't so strange. If you get flown out to a third world country I bet it takes enough time to get your sweaty clothes dry.

Yep, that's where I am. In a fricking third world country!

At least that's where I think I am. I mean sure, we have some desert in the US too, but I've been there a couple times. It didn't look like it does here. It wasn't so wide and it hadn't so much sand in it. Ugh. And I bet it isn't as hot there as it is here.

If I'd have to guess I'd think I was in the Sahara. Hmpf. No idea which country that one is in. Darkly, I think I remember that the big desert stretched over more than one country. And that it was in Africa. But which countries? Nada.

I groaned. Already, my legs started to get tired of walking through the sand.

Why did he do this to me?

Sure, we had a fight, a pretty big one as it was. But to throw me into this godforsaken land?

'_He'd never do that.'_

I pushed the little nagging voice in my head away. I didn't want to listen to it. If I did…

Oh well. I started to think about ways to pay him back. And non of it involved any sexual activity. No, rather some sort of castration… After all, I wouldn't need his dick anymore after this episode. A snowball in hell would have more chance to survive than my _dear_ husband to get back into my bed.

Too bad. He was _really_ good in there… and out of it. Alone thinking back to this night… well, if it had been this night, made me hot all over again. Despite the hot torture I was already in. Oh, damn him to hell!

My skin itched and exasperated I started to scratch one especially bad part on my arm. I looked down to it when it didn't minder one little bit and gasped. Already the skin was crayfish red. Just how long I was already here? Quickly I looked to my other arm. Same red color. The panic growing, I inspected my legs. Again red was all I could find. Slowly I straightened up. Shit, this was going to hurt like a bitch. And wasn't it even possible to get seriously sick by being to long in the sun? Could I get real burns from it? A heat rush? The image of badly burnt people conjured up before my eyes with screaming red skin and heat blisters all over it and I couldn't help but whimper. Was that my fate now? And what about a heat stroke? That could happen as well…

Suddenly terrified I picked up my speed a bit, desperate to get out of the scorching sun.

Just how did I land here?

Right. Because of a cucumber.

Damn this cucumber! See if I ever in my life will eat one again. They were banned from my life as of right now!

* * *

I hadn't picked up my watch before I rushed out of our house but I knew I must have been stumbling through the desert now for at least more than half a day. Even though it felt like a lifetime. I was tired and had trouble to keep myself on my feet. Time and time again a foot would give in or I'd stumble over some little heap of sand. My skin burned like hell and my eyes were glued with sand and burned as well. Ages ago I had slipped out of my shirt to wrap it around my head. Sure, it uncovered even more of my skin, but I felt as if I needed at least some protection on my head. It hadn't taken long that I got a real bitch of a headache and the level of pain had only augmented since then.

And I could kill for a drop of water.

Unfortunately neither an oasis nor any help was anywhere in sight. I started to wonder when I'd be starting to see fata morganas. And I wondered how I could get out of here and not die and this desert becoming my unmarked grave. All I knew was that I doubted that I'd get out of here alive without help. I mean, I'm pretty good at surviving, you know? But this was when I was on my own turf and yeah, usually I had help as well. Like my hubby riding to my rescue like the dark knight he was.

Then where was he now? And how could he have let me be taken here at all? Was one little fight really enough for him to go that far?

Oh, I knew deep down that it hadn't been him who brought me here. I knew he loved me. And he may be dangerous, but he'd never hurt me. But it was easier to believe it had been him. Because as long as I could tell myself that it had been him, then I knew I wasn't in any real danger. He'd be watching over me, somehow.

But while I wouldn't put it totally out of question that he would pull a stunt like this one, just to teach me a lesson he deemed necessary to my survival, he'd never have left me without water and making me dress into more suitable clothes.

So the time where I could delude myself into believing that he was responsible for my current situation had passed long ago. It hadn't been him, so much was for sure. Unfortunately, that left me with the reality that someone had kidnapped me, had flown me over half of the world to then drop me here to die a slow, suffering death. Either the heat would kill me, or I'd die out of thirst. Boy… whoever it had been, he sure had gone to great lengths to kill me.

I wonder what I had done to deserve all these efforts, just to kill poor little me.

Did Ric know that I had been taken? Probably. He already flipped out when I was unaccounted for for more than thirty minutes. By now almost two days must have gone by and I bet he was sick with worry. Probably. Maybe… Oh I didn't know. The fight… it had been the worst one we ever had, worse even than the one we had after he sent me back to Joe after our first night together. Well, not that we actually had fought back then, but it had been a bad time. And it also had been worse than the one we had when he lost control after the Slayers had gotten to me. Or when he had accused me of having no back bone and much, much worse than when I told him he could go to hell if he didn't lose his mystery shit he was pulling time and time again.

What if he thought that I left him? Would he believe that? Sure, I had mentioned something like that, something like if that was his attitude then I could as well pack my things and leave because I'd never agree with him on that point. But that had been in the heat of the argument, not really serious. Well, I was serious that I wouldn't just let him do what he wanted, but first I'd have tried to make him see my point of view in this matter. We'd have worked it out with time. We _wil_l, I corrected myself. And only if that failed and we'd have tried all we could to get over this would I perhaps consider leaving him.

I very much doubted that it would come to that though. I just loved him too much for that. I needed him and I couldn't live without him. And I knew it was the same with him. We've taken our time and it hadn't been easy to find our way to each other but now... We belonged together. We were soulmates and partners in every way of life.

Still, he perhaps thought I had gone away to fume and calm down again before I'd be back to discuss our problem. Wouldn't be the first time either of us would do such a thing. Not since our weeding four months ago, but it had happened often enough in the year we had been together before then. Or the three years we knew each other before we became a couple.

And even if he knew I'd been taken, how was he going to find me? Here, in the middle of nowhere? Sure, he was good. Who was I kidding? He was the best and between him and the Merry Men there was almost nothing impossible for them to achieve. But to find me now? Lost in the desert? First he'd need to find out who my kidnapper was, where said kidnapper had taken me to, then he'd need to figure out at which spot I got dropped and then he'd still need to trace my track to find me. A track that surely will have faded by the time he'd get here – if it hadn't already. I sure was not a genius in geology, but even I knew that a desert like the Sahara was in constant movement.

No.

I trusted Ric implicitly and I still tended to believe that he had some sort of super power. And I bet he'd find me one day. But would it be before I died out here?

No, no I couldn't think like that.

In that moment I stumbled over another heap and went flying into the sand. Exhausted, I stayed there for a while. It was really difficult to find any strength to get up again and not just continue to lie there. But I never in my life have given up. As a child Dad wouldn't let me, always urging me on until I was through this or that crisis. He had taught me that failing wasn't bad. Not if I had given my best and never just gave up. Sure, there had been times when I didn't believe in that and hated myself for failing in whatever it was. But I never gave up. Never. Not after my first marriage with the Dick was over before the ink was even dry on the certificate, not when I lost my job, not when I had to go up against psychos like Ramirez and Abruzzi and not even when there was a hit out on my head. Yeah, after the Slayer incident there had been a short time where I lost myself for a while, but Dad and Ric got me back on the track again. Since then I had gotten stronger and more confident and with the help of Ric and the Merry Men even pretty good at my job as well.

And I wouldn't start to give up now. I owed it to Dad, I owed it to Ric and I owed it to myself to get up and go on, not stopping again until I found some sort of safe place to rest until it was night. They said it got really cold in the night in a desert. Well, hard to imagine when you were being nicely baked second by second, but I trusted the unknown people who're saying that. Once I'd have rested a bit I would go on. Or stay there until someone would find me if I'd find a place with water and trees or something to keep me out of this sun. Yeah, that was what I was going to do.

Tiredly, I struggled back onto my feet and continued to move forward. One foot after the next.

Soon I kept myself going only by the monotone rhythmic. Step, step, step, step, step, step…

Sometime, I had no idea after how long, I had reached the top of a dune when suddenly I stumbled again and I fell head over down the dune. When I finally came to a stand still I laid there, panting and again face down in the sand. Slowly, I pushed myself up with my arms and shook me head to shake at least some of the sand away. Not that it was of any use. Sand covered my entire body for a long time now, sticking hurting to my already burning skin thanks to the sweat I was pouring out of all pores on my body. God, how much I longed for a shower!

Aching all over, I once again pulled myself up onto my feet, but the moment I put some weight on my right feet I went down with a yelp again.

No!

Please God, not that! Not now! I couldn't need a broken ankle now! I needed to move, to get to safety! Very carefully I wriggled with the foot. Pain shot through me, but at least I had been able to move it. So it wasn't broken. Still, obviously it was sprained, and that wasn't much better right now either. Fighting back the tears, I slowly got up, careful to not put any weight onto the right foot. Once I was standing I started to hobble forward. I managed perhaps six hobbles before I went down again. But I got up again and continued to hobble forward. This time I made a few hobbles more before I once again went sprawling into the sand again.

A sob broke out of me and I finally let myself wallow in my self pity. I didn't want to gave up now, but I simply couldn't go on any further anymore. Not like that. Hiccupping on tears, I pulled my knees to me and buried me head in my arms. I wanted to be home in Ric's arms, wanted to feel his arms around me and I wanted to hear his velvet voice telling me that all was going to be all right. And then I wanted him to lean down and his lips taking possession of mine and some long, slow love making. Make up sex - still really the best part of any fight.

But here I was, lost in the desert and about to die here, alone and miserable and without ever being able to tell Ric how very sorry I was about our fight and how much I loved him.

"I'm sorry, Ric. So sorry." I whispered into the stifling heat.

* * *

TBC!

(Author's Note: Rereading all the Plum-Novels before delving into the newest book I got out this old story of me, brushed it up a bit and am now posting it here on FF as well. Hope you enjoy it!)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

To say I was pissed would be the understatement of the year. I was well and truly beyond pissed. Sometimes I could just throttle her. I loved her, but by God, she could get me riled up like no one else could. Before I met her I had been a controlled man with a regular life. Well, as regular as a life like mine can be. Then she came along and the secure walls around my life and my heart started to crumble. Leaving me unbalanced, confused and scared. Yeah me. Badass bounty hunter, feared by all the scums in this state and beyond, having faced indescribable dangers and threats without breaking out into a sweat and I've been scared shitless by some tiny curly head.

It was ridiculous and my so called friends had sure laughed long and hard at my expense. Until they got the fact that I was head over heels in love. They still laughed then, but they knew now how serious it was exactly. And started to play matchmaker. Without much success. Some of their tries still were only talked about in hushed voices in the halls of Rangeman.

Oh, and I had fought my heart. Of course I never stood a chance. My heart and body knew what they wanted and needed and one day I found myself standing in the rain and facing the beautiful wide eyes of my Babe and threw the three little but oh so big words at her, offering her everything I was able to give her.

Amazingly she accepted it with a smile and kissed the living hell out of me, tears streaming down her face. But it sure had been a nice death for the last of my resolves. God, it had taken all I had to not take her then and there, in the parking lot before her apartment house. Somehow though we made it to her apartment. That had been the one and only night I had completely forgotten myself at her place and had shot all caution to hell. My worst enemy could have walked in, wildly shooting around, and I wouldn't have heard a damn thing. Once I was able to think again I convinced her to move in with me into my apartment on the 7th floor in the Rangeman building.

That had been one and a half years ago and here I was now, happily married to the woman of my dreams. Well, today not so happily. Grinding my teeth, I slammed the file I was trying to read down and stood up.

"Team 3, you have Kempler. 4, you better find Purcel today if you want to get your bonus. 2, you take the new case for the FBI and meet the agents to exchange the Intel gathered so far. But don't forget to first always let them give you something, before you tell them one of our findings. Tank, we have three take downs today and you better have everything ready or you can kiss your ass goodbye. Dismissed," I snapped off and stormed into my office. I sat into my chair but jumped up immediately again, too riled up to sit still, and started to pace.

So she wanted to be stupid and stubborn? Threatening to leave if I wouldn't let her have her way? Well ok, she could leave. I was in the right, damn it! And if she couldn't see the wisdom in my plans then so help her, that wasn't my problem. Because then we could forget all of this altogether.

"Trouble in paradise?"

I shot daggers at Tank. "Don't you have a take down to organize?"

He shrugged, unfazed by the many mental arrows I had put into his body and came the whole way in, shutting the door behind him. He dropped into my chair and leaned back, grinning. "Some birds are chirping that it had been pretty loud in your house this morning. And not in the way it's usual loud there."

"Shove it, Forrester," I told him, my jaw clenching.

All the bastard did was grin more. "I already wondered how long this disgustingly 7th heaven attitude you two were displaying would go on. Hmm, I'm off about three weeks, but if I remember correctly I'm still the closest. Damn, that will be one big blaze when I'll spend my newly gained fortune."

"You're fired," I told him clearly and stalked over to my desk.

"Sure. Then you best start to save your money to sell me out, partner," Tank just replied amused.

Damn. Just why had I the stupid idea to make Tank a partner? Bad, bad idea.

Seeing my scowl, Tank let out a deep rumbling laugh. "Come on, Ric. Why don't you skip the niceties and tell Dr Tank what happened to make it rain in paradise for once?"

I told him with one very careful chosen word what I thought about his offer.

He only laughed harder. "You know you want to talk. So shoot."

"There's nothing to say, Tank. She's the most stubborn being I ever met. Donkeys could go take lessons from her," I shot out.

Tank grinned. "No objection here. But that isn't anything new. You know that for a long time now."

"Well, I finally saw the light this morning," I commented and dropped into my chair.

Getting more serious, Tank studied me. "That bad?" he asked gently.

With a sigh I looked out of the window. "Worse," I finally admitted. "She said she'd leave. And I told her good, it would be my pleasure," I quietly admitted.

Very serious now, Tank slowly leaned forward and frowned. "I don't get it. Yesterday you almost ate her in front of the entire staff and today you two are talking about leaving each other? Just what the hell happened?"

If I'd know that myself I wouldn't be so confused right now. Helplessly, I shrugged. "It all started with a cucumber," I sighed, trying to find the point where the fight had started.

Tank looked blankly at me. "A cucumber?" he asked incredulous.

I nodded.

"Damn, Ric, you gotta tell Dr Tank more here," Tank ordered with a slight glare.

Yeah, I feared he'd say that. It was just that I wasn't sure how it went from the cucumber to the worst fight I ever had in my live, worse than the final fight with my ex-wife, worse than the fight with my father that had us not talking with each other for fifteen years until my Babe made him come and us making peace with each other half a year ago. Worse than the time I sent her back to Morelli and worse than the time I was so stupid to kidnap her and her family to put her into safe house when one of my enemies had shown up and threatened my Babe.

"It just… she said… I did… oh, I can't explain it," I gave up with a grimace.

Tank glared at me. "You better find a way. Because I won't let you two ruin the best thing that ever had happened in either of your life over a cucumber. Now spill it, Ric."

I shrugged and shook my head. "Well, we were in bed and just had woken up from a short nap when…"

I got interrupted by my cell phone ringing. Glad for the interruption I signed Tank to wait and grabbed for it.

"Yo."

"Ranger, where the hell is Steph? Vinnie's shortly before a stroke! She needs to bring in Walters this morning and hasn't shown up yet. And missed her date with Lula two hours ago as well," Connie broke out into a rant immediately. "And what's with her cell phone? She forgot to charge it again?"

Sitting up in alarm, I frowned. "She hasn't shown up yet?"

"No! Didn't you listen to a word I said? Vinnie is…"

"And she didn't pick up her phone?" I interrupted her, not interested in anything Vinnie was about to do.

"No! I told you so! Look, just tell her she better gets her ass here right now or I can't guaranty for anything, Ranger," Connie said.

"I'll call back," I said and disconnected without another word to speed dial my Babe. It rang, but no one picked up. When I got passed on to her mail box I frowned. "Babe, call me," I left on her call box and disconnected again. Then I dialed the number for our home. Again it rang until I got passed on to the answering machine. I left the same message for her and disconnected.

Not loosing any time I picked up my office phone and pushed the button to get me the control room. "Hal, you got any readings on my wife's car?"

"Just a second…" Hal said and I could hear him tapping on the keyboard while I impatiently paced. "Her car's still at home, boss. All in order."

"Thanks," I said, my heart beating loud in my ears. Where was she? We talked about Walters yesterday. She knew his location and had the take down planned for one hour ago.

"Ric?"

Pulled out of my thoughts I looked at Tank.

"What's up?"

I shook me head. "Steph's missing."

Tank's eyes turned worried. "When was the last time you saw her?" he asked, all business.

"This morning, 0717, when she stormed out of the house to go for a run," I answered.

"She went running?" Tank asked, unbelieving.

I nodded.

"Without you having to drag her with you?"

I nodded again.

"Damn, she must have been really pissed," Tank commented, awed.

This time I just glared at him.

He frowned at me. "And you didn't go with her?" he asked.

Clenching my jaw, I shook my head.

"Wow, then you must have been really pissed too," Tank said slowly.

I gave a short nod and turned away. Yeah, I had been. All I wanted was to get away, so I had let her go and I got into my truck and drove here. Sure, I had a meeting scheduled and I was a bit late for it already, but I could have gone with her anyway. We may have yelled more than run, but at least she wouldn't have been all alone, without even a gun on her. Damn, if I hadn't been so riled up I would have insisted on her at least going out armed. What if something had happened?

Nausea suddenly threatened to overcome me. No, she was ok. She had to be. I would feel it otherwise, wouldn't I? I feel it usually when she's in danger.

"Ric!"

"What?" I glanced at Tank, irritated.

"Before you worry yourself into a heart attack lets not lose the horses, ok? You two had a fight. A bad fight. Probably she just went somewhere to vent a bit," Tank reasoned.

Of course. That could be. Wouldn't be the first time. But she knew how urgent Walters was and I couldn't believe she would fail to bring him in just because of our fight. She never failed to bring her man in, no matter what. But suddenly I could hear her again:

"_Well, if you think like that I can as well leave now and spare us the heartache!"_

She hadn't really left me, right? It just had been something you say in the heat of an argument. Right?

"I need to get home," I said, turning to leave.

Tank didn't say a word and just followed me. Only when I intended to get behind the wheel of my truck he stepped forward and took the keys from me. "What do you think you're doing?" I snapped at him.

"You're too messed up to drive. Now get in or I'll drive without you," Tank said and got into the car.

I wanted to debate but in the end I let it go and got into the passenger seat. Deep down I knew he was right and I was glad Tank came with me. Could be that I'd need him to take over should really something have happened to my Babe. And the longer I was in this awful uncertainness the more my dread grew that something had happened to her indeed. She wouldn't leave me. Not like that. Not without trying to first settle our difference. Not without a word.

And by God, she knew how much I needed her. She wouldn't do that to me. Nor was it like her to disappear and not be there for a scheduled meeting. It had taken some time, but once she understood what I was going through when she vanished from my radar she had begun to try to let me know her plans or change of plans. Oh, I never got her so far to accept a bodyguard, but at least she accepted to let the GPS in her car on all the time. Knowing how much my Babe loved her independence I had known how much that had cost her and had been ultimately touched by her sign of cooperation and love.

No, she knew better than to not let someone know of her whereabouts for such a long time. Even if she had been pissed and hurting at the same time.

"She's gonna be fine, Ric." Tank quietly said.

I briefly glanced over to him but didn't say a word. He could say what he wanted. We both knew it better. No one knew at that moment if she wasn't already dead.

No.

No, it couldn't be. I would have at least felt that. If your soul dies, I bet you notice it.

* * *

Finally, Tank pulled into our driveway and after I pushed the control on my key ring, the iron gates opened to let us in. This place was as safe as the White House if not even safer. But Steph had gone for a run outside of our grounds. Where it would have been easy to get to her, especially in the state she was in.

Just why had I let her go like that?

The car stopped and I jumped out before Tank had a chance to cut the motor. I had my gun drawn and went in through the garage. There stood her car, a special made for her. On her wish, a silver Peugeot. I don't know why she was such a fan of them, but the first time she had laid eyes on this model she had wanted it. So she got it. I let them enforce the construction with the safest metal there was, got a GPS installed plus all the extras that fit into it like bomb detectors, instant oil and gas release and a lot of other things. James Bond would envy her for that car. It was probably the safest car on this planet and it had cost a fortune. But the way I see it it's worth every penny.

She had that car for ten months straight now and nothing and no one had so far managed to send it to car heaven. The boys had been disappointed. She was delighted. I was relieved and considered to get this car somehow spoken saint.

If she'd just taken the car to go drive around instead of go running!

I touched the hood and it was cool to my touch. No one had driven that car for quite some time. Trying to push away my growing feeling of fear I moved on to the door leading into the house, Tank closely following me.

When I entered the kitchen all was still where it had been this morning. The glasses and plates we used yesterday evening were in the sink, empty bottles of coke and water on the bar and the damn cucumber still on the floor where Steph had smashed it to before storming back to our bedroom. I looked at it with all the hate I could feel. Damn cucumber. First thing I got the chance I would take it outside, get the machine gun and shoot it to pieces. Or perhaps I would flatten it with a panzer. There were enough people who owned me favors and I was sure it would be no problem to get a panzer. Or perhaps just make it the old fashioned way: Take a sledge hammer and smash it.

Unable to bear the cucumber staring at me and make fun of me any longer, I moved quickly out into the hall, holstering the weapon. No one was here. Not some genius thief who managed to break into this fortress, nor the lady of the house. I knew it. It was too empty for that.

"What now?" Tank asked, holstering the gun beside me as well, trusting my instincts with no questions. He shouldn't. Would they have been working right my wife wouldn't be missing now.

Which reminded me… I looked up the stairs. I was pretty sure that Steph had fallen victim to some sort of attack… Still. I needed to eliminate the slight possibility that she had been serious with the leaving me part.

"I need to check something upstairs. Perhaps she came back and left a note," I told Tank and moved towards the stairs. Sensing my need to do this part alone, Tank stayed back.

I hesitated before I went into our bedroom. Already, the house felt empty. I didn't want to know how the one room that was us the most essential would feel. But Tank was waiting and my Babe probably in danger. So I braced myself and entered and I felt like I received a heavy blow to the stomach. The emptiness here was like a black hole. I quickly glanced at our bed, the covers still undone and for a moment it was like I could feel her on me, her silky hair tangled in my fingers, her velvet skin pressed to mine, her walls… With an effort I dragged my eyes away and turned my back to the bed to walk to the closet. Well, actually it was a walk in closet that resembled more a little boutique. My wife sure loved her clothes and shoes.

Taking a deep breath I took stock of it. As much as that was possible. All bags still accounted for. Relieved, I let out a sigh I didn't know I was holding, while at the same time my heart clenched in cold fear. If she'd left me I would have known at least that she was probably safe. But now… my eyes fell on her favorite jacket for the moment, a black parka, and I felt sick. She wore this jacket each day for work. Would she had come back from the jog and left again that jacket would be gone. It was the last proof I needed to know with certainty that something had happened to my Babe.

Panic overwhelmed me and I felt myself going down. All I was left feeling was terror and guilt and pain. I took big gulps of air, trying to get myself under control. But it just was stronger than me. My Babe was often in danger. I hated it, but strange as it was it was still part of what I loved about her. I'd never get used to her being in danger though, but usually I manage to keep it together better than this. But the longer we're together now, the harder each situation with her gets. Still, I had somehow kept it together so far. Now though…

Something told me that this was worse than any peril Steph had ever been in. I hadn't felt it before, probably I had been too angry to notice something, but now… God, now I could almost feel her life slipping away. And to top it of it had to happen directly after this terrible fight. No. It had happened _because_ of that fight. Otherwise my Babe wouldn't have gone for that run. And I wouldn't have let her go like this, alone and unprotected.

Fuck.

One fight and I forget everything that training and life had taught me. I always told her to be more aware of her surroundings. Well, and now look who hadn't been on his toes. If she'd…

A sob escaped my throat. But I swallowed the next. I needed to push back Ric and become solely Ranger, the soldier. My hand turned to fists during my effort to get myself under control. I couldn't afford to lose it now. My Babe needed me now more than ever. Slowly, I pushed the memory and the guilt away. Then I calmed down my wildly beating heart. Next I pushed away the blinding panic. The unnamable amount of fear stayed and I didn't even bother to suppress it as well. It would be futile anyway. So I'd use it to spur myself on. My breathing regulating, I slowly stood up again. I closed my eyes and started to pull up the things I'd need to get my Babe back the fastest way: Anger. Control. Discipline. Training. Dangerousness. The ability to do everything that is necessary to get the mission done.

When I opened my eyes again I knew they didn't hold any emotions in them anymore. Nor did the iron mask I slammed down over my face. Slowly, I stepped out of the closet and again my eyes fell onto the bed, but this time it didn't threw me off again. I had come in as the husband. But I left as the soldier.

* * *

Tank was on the phone when I joined him. One look at me and he involuntarily straightened. Good.

He disconnected. "That was Hal. I had him check around. No sign of the bombshell at all. I let him check the hospitals now."

Ric, deep down in me, gasped, but I just nodded. I doubted she would turn up there. "Good. But I'm almost sure she has been taken. Get Bobby and Lester to check out the airports, the stations and contact the highway patrol, see if something strange has come up this morning. And from now on no one leaves from or comes to Trenton without Rangeman knowing it."

Tank nodded and flicked the phone open again. I left for the terrace to think about what to do. She was missing for 140 to 180 minutes now. So far we had no idea, where, when exactly and by whom she had been taken. If she was at all. But it wasn't as if there was lack of possibilities.

"Done," Tank said, joining me.

I acknowledged it with a nod, still thinking on the course of action. Finally, I turned to face him. "Call all the teams on missions back in. Then get the reserves together. We have a lot to do. Three teams for research: one checks her enemies and cases. One mine. The third will look for anyone else who could have an interest to get her: kidnappers for money, psychos, gunmen. Then I want a team on the street. Find every informant we and Steph ever used and press them for information. Go to the lowest bugs, to the known dealers, to the agents. I want them all interrogated."

Tank nodded.

I looked to the gate. "We two will first try to follow her track. She turned south. There are three possible rounds I can think of that she could have taken. She hates to use the same day after day, but normally she still picks one round that doesn't change. Perhaps we find something. Or someone has seen something."

Tank followed my eyes then grabbed for his cell phone again with a nod to pass on my instructions. I went back in into the foyer to check for Steph's phone, not sure if she had taken it with her or not. But there it was, on the console. I carefully picked it up and pocketed it. You never knew. For a minute I stood there, then slowly took my own phone out and dialed.

"Morelli," I said as soon as I heard the phone being picked up.

"Manoso?" I could hear the frown in his voice, but ignored it.

"Steph's missing," I informed him, tightly.

For a moment it was silent on the other side of the line. "How long?" he then asked in a pressed voice.

"140 to 180 minutes," I answered.

"Where she's gone missing?" he wanted to know.

"She went for a run. Never came back," I reported.

"And idea by whom?" he then asked.

"No. Not yet. Could you check on her old cases that are still in prison? And if someone reported something this morning?" I asked. I didn't like to ask Steph's ex-boyfriend for anything, but now was no time for rivalry.

"Done," Morelli confirmed. And now that the official part was over, I could almost hear as his anger started to get through to him. "And where were you when she's been taken?" he asked accusingly.

I felt myself stiffen but kept my voice calm. "At the office."

"And you let her go just like that? With all the shit you're involved in that can backfire to her?" Morelli continued.

My voice chilled. "She's her own person, Morelli, and my wife, not my prisoner."

"If she dies, Manoso, I swear, I'll kill you. First I'll find something to finish you off and then I'll see to it that you never again kill an innocent woman," Morelli swore and hung up.

Morelli still loved Steph. I knew that. Always knew. You can't love my Babe and ever forget it. They kept in contact and became friends. But me and Morelli… we stayed away from each other and only worked together if there was no choice. Like now. But I had no doubts that he'd fulfill his promises, cop or not. What he didn't know was that if she really died then there wouldn't be anything left of me to destroy and kill. The loss of her would take care of that. And a gun would take care of the still functioning shell.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. It's nice to see that some even remember this old story. I hope you liked this chapter as well. Personally, I just love to remain in Ranger's head for a while. Next chapter soon!)_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

At some point I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke up again, millions of stars sparkled above me and the blinding sun and beige of the desert had given way to a silvery darkness. The sand shimmered white and it wasn't difficult to still see. And remember those unknown people? They were right. It was cold! Not that I cared about that. My skin was burning, thanks to the sunburns, and the coldness was a slight relief.

With a sigh I looked up at the stars. It was a beautiful night sky, and in any other circumstances I would have marveled at it. I'd snuggle into Ric's arms and he'd tell me what was what star constellation, just like he had done so on some nights in our honeymoon.

Now I wished I had listened more closely to his explanations rather than concentrated on the feel of him and the wonder that this amazing man was mine now. But it had been our honeymoons for heaven's sake. It was amazing that we had been out of the bed at all!

I wondered where he was right now. Was he gazing at the stars too and remembering our honeymoon, while wondering where I could be? No, probably not. Oh, he would wonder where I was, that definitely. But he wouldn't allow himself to think about our honeymoon, wouldn't let anything disturb his concentration. He'd focus on the mission of finding me, to be the soldier and nothing else. Later though, when all would be over, he'd break down and let the pent up emotions free. And I'd gave him whatever he needed to reassure himself that we were both ok and that our life was intact.

"God, please. Let me be there for him this time around too," I prayed, tears rolling over my cheek.

I couldn't die. I knew my death would take Ric with me. I didn't want that. Didn't want that responsibility. The way I saw it he'd have to live on, find some new happiness and live until it was his time to go. But the truth was that he wouldn't do that. He was only thirty three, but he had had to go through so much in his relatively short life already... In our wedding night he told me that he had been as good as dead when I walked into his life and shocked him back to life. That my heartbeat was his, that my breath was his.

Of course I was blown away by such a confession. Which woman wouldn't be if the best and sexiest and most wonderful man in the universe would tell her something like that? But it also scared me. And I had been right to be scared. The next time I had managed to get into some trouble again, even though it hadn't been my fault, I had seen in his eyes just how true his words had been. He'd give up the moment my heart stopped beating and I'd taken my last breath. It wasn't fair. No one should be of such an elemental importance to anyone.

Should something happen to Ric… I don't know what I'd do then. But I think I would at least continue to exist. Perhaps. I couldn't imagine it. I didn't want to. I had married Batman. Batman _always _survives, right? He wouldn't do something impossible like die on me.

Too bad I wasn't really Superwoman. Or I could be pretty sure that I too would always live. For Ric, if not for me. But I wasn't, so I had to find another way to give my man more to live for than just little ol' me. And I thought I had found the solution. This morning I wanted to talk to Ric about it, but then that damn cucumber had ruined everything.

Ugh.

Well, for now I'd better just concentrate on surviving. I sat up and from there pushed myself onto my left feet. Very carefully I tried to put a bit weight onto the right foot, but the second I did that pain shot like fire from my ankle through my entire body again and I hastened to relieve it again. Looked like I could definitely forget that foot.

With a sigh I started to hobble. It went a bit better than with my last try. Probably because it was cooler now and I had rested a bit. Still, it was a struggle. Believe me, it isn't easy to hobble on one foot through sand. I longed for some sort of a cricket. I wasn't picky about it. A simple strong stick would do it for me. Well, perhaps I'd walked by coincidence by the wreck of the Arch Noah. I bet there I'd find something.

Of course I fell down more than one time. But each time I pushed myself up again. Still, after one time I was too much spent to get up again.

God, how could a person be so thirsty like I was and not have passed out by now?

Ok, that was it! I was done! I couldn't anymore! I was hurt, I was exhausted, I was thirsty and I was utterly alone. There was only so much I could endure! I'd stay right here and wait for death or someone to pass by and rescue me.

Suddenly I saw the dark eyes of Ric before me, glowing with need and desire for me. But above them all, there was the indefinite love he held for me. "Babe," he said, in this special way of him that always made my skin crawl with anticipation and lust and joy and love.

"Come on, Kitten. You can make it. I know it," the voice of my Dad then said to me, like he had done it a hundredth time when I was a kid and about to learn something new and it wasn't so easy.

With a sob I nodded. Ok. I couldn't give up. Not now, not yet, not ever. I had to move on. But how? Suddenly I knew it. I may not be able to walk anymore… but I could still crawl!

So this time I pushed myself onto my hand and knees and started to crawl.

I have no idea how long I crawled. From time to time I'd rest a bit, but never for too long. The longer I'd stay the more tired I'd get and the harder it would be to move on again. It seemed endless, but probably it was just some hours. At one time the stars started to fade and soon after that I saw one of the most beautiful sunrises I had ever seen in my life. Too bad that all I could feel at the beautiful view was dread.

Dread of the deadly sun and the scorching heat. I couldn't go through another day like the last! I needed to get out of this sun! Desperate I sat and looked around.

Nothing.

Fighting against tears I looked around again. On my left side was a little hill. Perhaps, perhaps, there would be some shelter behind that big dune. And if not there, then behind the next one. There must be some shelter somewhere. People travel through the desert all the time. Hell, there were still people that lived here. So there must be something here, right?

So I crawled again. Up and up and up until I finally reached to top of the hill. Slowly I looked up, not daring to hope, but hoping none the less. But one look and all hope died. With a sob I broke down.

Nothing. Still nothing else than endless desert. This time I couldn't even see a next dune or hill behind which precious water and shadow could be found.

I cried, but without tears. There was no fluid left in my body. My skin burned already more than ever, and the sun wasn't even real high yet.

I was going to die.

Truly die.

There was no hope left for me. I could as well just stay here…

No...

No!

No, damn it! I wouldn't give up! Not like that. There was still life in me. There was still a last bit of strength left in me. As long as I had that I could move on. Very slowly I pushed up again. Well, I should look at the positive side: at least this whole ordeal was a great exercise for my arms.

Carefully, I started my way down again, but obviously not careful enough. Suddenly the sand gave away under me and once again I bumped down in rolls and flip flops. But this time the last thing I remembered was coming to an abrupt stop with a scream and then everything went dark.

* * *

"Report," I demanded the second I got into the conference room at RangeMan. The hierarchy in these meetings had long been set up. The lowest team leader would start and it would go up until it reached me.

James, the newest leader, straightened. "We've checked on your wife's cases and list of enemies. We're not through with everyone yet but so far we have nine dead, 47 are in prison, 65 out and still living in this state, 23 out of state. 13 are still unaccounted for. Nothing suspicious came up. No one voicing threats, all following their normal routine and we so far couldn't find any relatives or friends of the dead ones out for revenge. We have a list of the ten people mostly interested in revenge though. Again nothing so far, but we're still in the process of going through each one of them," he ended his report and passed me their findings on a paper. I quickly overflew the list. Not one of them I thought capable of this kidnapping.

Raoul was next with my list. It was considerable larger than Steph's with me being in this business for fifteen years now. There were also lot of names on that list I thought were very capable of pulling this stunt here. Too bad though that so far none of them seemed able to have done it. Either they were dead or in prison – or not even in this country.

Next came Sean with the third list. A very short list. They hadn't found anything. No serial killer on the loose, no new psycho making flags go up, no trace of a hit out on her head, no talk of wanting to achieve the unachievable so far.

The fourth leader was Rohan. He and his men had gone out to contact the snibs. Finally, there were three hints we could follow up. One was of a mob guy trying to get at Steph and me because we put too many of his men behind bars. I doubted it was what we were looking for, but we'd check it out. And after I'll have my wife back I would take care of the mob guy. The second was of a stranger arriving yesterday, scrambling together a pretty big arsenal as well as an enforced van and all in all no one really knew where he came from, what he wanted here with all the stuff, nor has he been seen since then. My instinct sent bingo signs out. He probably was the best shot we had. Then the last thing we found out was about a street thug having a big mouth and talking dirty about my Babe – and that he wanted to show her what a real man could do to her. That he wouldn't be on her list of gooey-eyed men that made it too easy for her to catch him. I looked forward to have a chat with that thug. But such a guy was too stupid to really manage to get near my Babe, distraught or not.

After that, Lester reported that no incident has occurred this morning at all on neither way to leave Trenton. The continued observation was arranged. What he could say was that apparently eleven planes that they'd know of had left Trenton in the time in question from private airstrips.

Then Tank reported quickly our findings… or rather lack of. No where had there been a sign of the crime scene, no one had seen something. Some neighbors had seen her jogging down the street, but that was about all. It had been frustrating.

After everyone had delivered their reports, I got up and walked over to the window, evaluating their findings. It was trying, this lack of information. Usually if someone was after my Babe it was easy to find out who and why. And normally, there was some warning ahead. They almost all wanted to first play around a little with her, see her fear and her growing suspect against everyone before they made their final attack. It was hard for Steph and all the other victims of such an offender. But for us protecting them it was easier to a) prevent the final attack and b) to find the bastard.

But in a case like this, when out of the blue an attack occurred, leaving no trace or note… it was damn difficult. Statistics proved that most of these victims couldn't be found alive, if at all.

I bate my lip and my hands fisted for the umpteenth time this day. But my Babe wouldn't be part of a number on such a list. If she was enlisted there, then as 'retrieved alive'. She always denied the odds and wouldn't start now to fail that unique treat in her.

Fuck.

I was slipping again.

Pushing the husband in me away again, I turned my mind back onto the matter at hand. Normally, with such a scenario, I would think it was a simple kidnapping. It wasn't a secret that I was very rich. Or that I had at least some valuable influence around here. Or perhaps someone wanted to get me to do something, like a kill or a high security theft.

So far though no according note had arrived. But then, it was only late afternoon. Often, kidnappers waited some time to make the target go out of his mind with worry before they finally delivered a demand. So it was very well possible that I'd get a call this night or tomorrow. It was just… I had a real bad feeling about this. Something told me that no one would call. Still, I had arranged that each call I'd get on either of my lines would be traced and the men checking our mail had been warned to watch out and inform me the second they received something unusual.

But I'd be damned if I sat around and waited, helpless and getting more frantic each second.

So I turned around to face my men. They all looked expectantly at me, with grim expressions and ire in their eyes. My core team was even humming with tension and fury. They all loved my Babe. She was their light almost as much as she was mine. Over the years, and especially since our engagement, they went to her to talk or vent. She'd always find a way to cheer them up. And if they were stubborn she'd simply took them along to a sale at Macy's and made them go with her into Victoria's Secret. And if that didn't help she took them to a meeting with Grandma Mazur. So far there hadn't been one who still thought he had a real problem after that. It was as suddenly nothing could be as bad. Normally, I'd then receive special treatment from these poor men for a few days and glances of new respect.

Well, they were right. Steph's grandmother sure was a scary unique, just like her granddaughter. But I liked the old bat. As long as she wasn't anywhere near in groping range.

Damn, I was sidetracking again.

"Rohan, I want you to track that mysterious stranger. Find out where he came from, what he did on every minute of his stay here and where he went to," I started to instruct.

Rohan nodded and I looked at the three men working the different lists. "You continue your work. Once you're finished, I want you to go through all of them again and again until we know everything there is to know about them."

After getting the three affirming nods I looked at Bobby and Lester. "I want to know everything about those private flights: Destinations, pilots, guests, freight. Ask the regulars and staff at the airstrips if they've perhaps seen Steph."

Lester nodded. "Done."

"Tank and I will go through the government and military contacts as well as the ones on the outside. Should she show up anywhere I want to be notified immediately." I glanced at Tank. "Call all the favors in if necessary."

I hadn't really the right to ask him this. These favors owned were his and neither mine nor Rangeman's. But I knew that Tank loved Steph as his sister and the two were very close, so I felt pretty safe to ask him this.

And sure enough, Tank nodded. "Already made some calls." Then he frowned. "You think she isn't in Trenton anymore."

Uncomfortable, my eyes turned involuntarily to the window again. Then I shook my head. "No. No, I'm pretty sure she's not around here anymore. I… I can't sense her anymore," I admitted quietly, not sure if anyone else than Tank heard my reason.

In our business, we have learned to trust our instincts. But we still relied on facts and usually didn't reason with instincts. It was too unreliable. But Tank had asked and he needed to hear the truth to crosscheck my instructions. He was the second. It was his job to have an eye on me, especially if I was so involved in a mission like this one.

Tank studied me for a moment, before he nodded. "I'll get to my contacts in Europe and Africa."

Lester nodded as well. "South and Middle America will be covered within an hour."

"Asia and Australia as well," Rohan nodded.

Moved by the unconditional sign of affection towards my Babe I nodded my thanks. "Dismissed." They rose and left to go fulfill their tasks.

"Tank," I called out to stop him.

He turned towards me.

"I… I try to keep it together," I said. I didn't want to have this conversation, and it wasn't too necessary. Still, I needed to hear it. "But if… just don't let me get Steph killed, okay?"

Tank slowly came closer and put a hand on my shoulder. "I won't. You're fine for now," he assured me. "I love her too, Ric. We'll get her back and no one will come between us and her, not even you."

Relieved I nodded and turned away, not wanting to let Tank see how thin my composure was. I trusted him implicitly. He was my brother and best friend and apart of Steph the closest to me. Still, I didn't like for anyone but my wife to see my emotions.

Sensing that, he squeezed my shoulder and almost had reached the door again when suddenly a loud phone ringing the melody to a song from Stereophonics cut through the silence in the room. We stared into each other eyes for a moment before I grabbed for Steph's cell phone in my pocket while Tank came closer once more and I checked the display.

Unknown number.

"Ricardo Manoso," I answered the phone. Usually I'd go for 'Yo'. Everyone knew who I was when I said that. It was like a trademark of me. But this wasn't my phone and perhaps this was the asshole that had my wife.

For a long moment there was silence on the other end and all I could hear was a slightly ragged breathing.

I hadn't expected what came next in a million years.

"Where's my daughter, Manoso?!" The very angry voice of my father in law asked.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: Again, thanks for the reviews, I'm glad you liked the last chapter - and this story so far for that matter. While this baby is finished (I think 12 chapters altogether) I am on a short trip to Verona for the next four days, so I fear next update will only come Tuesday. Until then: Nice weekend, enjoy this chapter and hang in tight...)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"_Babe," Ric said in a raw voice as his head descended down to mine to give me a feverent kiss._

"_Ric?" I asked, confused. Where was I? Had all been only a bad dream and I was safe at home in the loving arms of my husband?_

"_Si mi amor," Ric murmured, before he claimed my lips again. Forgetting everything I let myself go and melted into his kiss, his arms holding me close to him. This time when he broke the kiss I just sighed contentedly and snuggled against his naked chest, his heart beating fast against my ear._

_After a moment, I turned my head and started to shower his chest with small kisses. "I missed you so much, Cariño," I whispered and looked up between two kisses to meet his dark eyes, alighted with fire. Fire for me._

"_I missed you too, Cara. I need you so much," Ric said and I felt as he gently pressed his hip against mine so I could feel the hard erection of him. "Never leave me, Babe."_

"_Never, Ric. I couldn't," I whispered and moved my hand to put it around him. "I need you too much myself."_

_With a groan, Ric took both of my hands to put them around his neck. Next he lifted me and put my legs around his hips. He claimed my lips, his tongue pushing deep into my throat to muffle my scream when he plunged himself with one forceful stroke deep into me. For a long moment we stayed like that, time standing still, the only thing moving our tongues warring and dancing a dance known since always simultaneously. Suddenly, Ric let my mouth go to rain kisses down my throat. Over the crook in my neck he stopped and gave it a long sensual kiss. In bliss I threw my head back and at the same time pushed myself harder against him to take him even more into me. _

_Ric lifted his head to look me into the eyes and there was a feral smile on his face. At the sight of this smile I inwardly jubilated in eager expectation. I knew that smile, had seen it often. It always promised me a wonderful, unforgettable meeting with Ric, a lovemaking there were no words for it, so incredible it was. Turning serious he slowly slipped out of me so far that he left my body almost completely. Then his head shot back to the spot on my neck he had ravished and his teeth pierced my skin at the same time he once thrust forcefully into me again. _

_Making me his, proving me that I was his, reminding me that I was his. Marking me as his. Forever and ever._

_With any other man I would hate such a possessive gesture. Would hate to be marked in such a manner. But not with Ric. Never with Ric. Our need for each other often rendered to animalistic, our bond equaled more the life long mating some animals like swans did than a simple banal marriage. So I found it only natural to be marked in such a way. And I would return the favor as soon as I could._

_He let go of my neck and kissed his way back to my mouth and while we kissed he picked up the ancient rhythm lovers, mates, danced to since the beginning of time. Stroke for stroke I met him and together we moved faster and faster and faster until we both ripped our mouths away at the same time to roar out our utter elation and ecstasy. We both trembled when he released himself deep inside me, him from the blissfully release and I from the sensation his seed spilling into me caused me._

_We were one, only whole like that, joined in every way possible and nothing in this universe was more perfect for me than that one moment._

_The more it hurt when suddenly, I felt myself being ripped away from the arms of my mate, being separated by searing force. I cried out in the pain of the sudden loss and from one second to the other the world around me turned from pure heaven to terrifying hell. Fire enclosed me and the scorching heat burned my skin. Red, orange and glistening, blinding white attacked my senses. I should hear the crackles of the fire around me, but the only thing I could hear were the agonizing screams of pain from Ric who desperately called out for me._

_Sobs ripped away from me and the tears spilled out of my eyes while I cried out for my soulmate, weeping for him, for me, for us. The tears didn't even lesson the pain of my burning skin. No, the liquid evaporated within a brink of a second, leaving only the salt on my cheeks which only lit up the painful fire on them._

_Then, suddenly, darkness descended upon me and with a petrified scream to Ric I felt myself be engulfed by it. _

* * *

I gulped. Not that I was easily intimidated. But I had learned fast that Frank Plum may look pretty harmless, always sitting in his chair and watching television or eating undisturbed by the bedlam around him or driving a taxi, but if necessary he could be very scary and dangerous. I'll never forget the time after Steph and I had gotten together and he had invited me over to his garage to work with him a bit on the Buick.

Of course I hadn't been enthusiastic about it, but Steph had told me that this invitation was an honor unparalleled and I'd better go. As I had the intention to stay together with my Babe I of course went after all. I figured I'd better put myself on my woman's family's good side with the way things worked here in the Burg.

The moment I had entered the garage upon Frank's request I had been grabbed from the side and thrown with one move to the ground, a knife at my throat and two very cold eyes had stared into mine. "You have an excellent record, Manoso. I'm disappointed that you let yourself be taken by surprise like this."

"Sir," I calmly responded, more calmly than I felt.

The cool blade of the knife touched my skin. "You lead a dangerous life, Manoso. By dating my daughter, you pull her into that life. If this is the way you protect yourself then how do you want to protect my daughter?"

Growing aware of the test I was being submitted to, I swallowed my scruples to go against Steph's father and did what I normally would have done. Fought back. Only… I had no success. Nothing I did had any effect. Harmless Frank Plum had me well and truly immobilized and solely at his mercy. Damn. That hadn't happened to me since my training for the Rangers.

Thinking, I finally simply answered his question. "I will protect her by whatever means necessary, Sir," I answered honestly, before adding a bit sulkily. "Like I have done before."

His eyes didn't flicker, just stared a hole into my entire being. "You and I both know that the dangers Steph had so far been in will be nothing compared to what your enemies could do to her. So far she had been lucky. There hardly was any real threat to her, not someone with real training. But by being your woman, this will change. They will all go through her to get at you."

Getting angry, I had looked back at him with heat. "I know that, Sir. It was one of the reasons why I stayed away for so long. But I will do whatever is in my power to protect her, as well as my core team and the whole staff of RangeMan. And they are the best, Sir."

"So it's the rumor." Frank nodded, before leaning in real close. "And it better is true, because if something happens to my Kitten because of you, if you hurt her in any way, if you don't adequately protect her, nothing in this world will stop me from killing you." At his words the knife grazed my skin and drew blood. "Is that clear, Manoso?"

"Yes, Sir. Crystal clear." I answered hoarsely. And I knew it was true. I had no idea who or what Frank Plum really was, but I knew he'd follow through with his words.

"Good. Never forget that, Manoso," Frank said chillingly and before I knew it the knife had vanished and he had pulled me up to my feet. "And another thing: Not a word of this to Stephanie."

Tentatively touching my bleeding throat, I nodded. I had no interest in telling my Babe that her father had gotten to me like that. I would never live this down.

"Well, what are you standing around like that, Ricardo? Grab some tools and come help me," Frank then had said, as if nothing had happened, and turned over to the open hood of the Buick. And after what I just had experienced, I damn well hurried to follow this man's orders.

"Manoso!" Frank yelled into my ear, bringing me back to the here and now.

"Yes," I said hesitantly.

"I ask you again: Where is my daughter?" Frank asked in a clipped voice.

Finally, I registered the near panic in his voice. Could it be that he already knew about my Babe's abduction? But how? Pushing my thoughts away I slowly answered him, bracing myself for what was to come. "I don't know, Sir. She's missing at the moment."

A sharp intake of breath was heard then for a while nothing. I figured Steph's father digested the horrible news. Then a single word I hadn't heard so far followed. It was self explanatory though.

"When?" he finally asked in a tight voice.

"This morning between 0717 and 0900. Probably though between 0730 and 0800," I reported, not thinking twice about giving Frank Plum all information I knew - the little it was.

"Any trace of her so far?" Frank wanted to know.

Swallowing, I denied. "Some leads, but nothing definite."

Silence.

When I was sure Frank wasn't going to ask anything more for the moment, I asked the one question at the front of my mind. "How did you know about Steph's abduction, Frank?"

"Not over the phone," he answered briskly though. "You at your headquarters?"

"Yes."

"I'll be there in eleven minutes."

And the connection was cut. I dragged the phone away from my ear and stared at it for a moment.

What the hell was going on here?

* * *

"That was the Bombshell's father?" Tank asked me.

Slowly I nodded.

"How'd he know about it?"

I shook my head. "No idea. But we're about to find out." At Tank's look I sighed. "He's on his way here."

For a long moment, Tank stared at me before he shook his head. "Shit, Ric, want me to call for a team?"

The only one I ever told about my encounter with Frank Plum had been Tank. He had laughed his ass off but then helped me trying to find out more about my prospective father in law. Sure, there was the usual. Birth, marriage, birth of children. A sheet of prior engagements, note of his retirement from the post office a few years back. But after Frank's warning I knew there must have been more, so we went deeper. And despite our excellent resources we had found nothing. Nada. If I didn't know him I almost would have believed that no Frank Plum existed. We searched the cities data about him and found it classified. Trying to find more out on the indirect way we then checked on Steph's mother. And had to find out that her data was as protected as his.

To this day I still don't know exactly who Frank Plum really was behind that mask of a normal Burg houseman. But Tank and I learned to be cautious whenever he was involved. And it was reasonable of Tank to fear for my safety. I did so as well. But something told me that Frank would first take advantage of my resources. Once we got my Babe back though…

Another point that worried me a bit was the part about the fight. No guaranties what he'd do once he found out that all this happened because of a fight we had. All starting with a cucumber…

Suppressing a shudder, I shook my head. "No, I think you will be enough."

"If you think so," Tank relented, doubtfully.

I gave a short nod and turned away to go back to the window. There still were at least six minutes left until Frank would be here. Six long minutes in which I couldn't do much. Starting to call in the first favor would pretty surely take more than six minutes. The others were occupied with the different branches of the investigation. I had notified Connie that Steph was sick and wouldn't be in for a few days and then had sent out Hector and Cal to get Steph's skip. Walters was long back in jail by now and they were now going after the rest of her skips.

So all I had left to do was worry. The one thing I couldn't allow myself now, even though it was unavoidable. I closed my eyes and immediately, my Babe's beautiful blue eyes appeared, her look heavy with satisfaction and shining with pure love. The way they had looked just before the fight had started. The emotions I felt at that vision nearly chocked me up so I hastily opened my eyes again. Not that it would have lessened the pain. The damage to my composure was done now and my heart arched with longing for my wife.

On the other side of the room the door banged open and I felt a furious presence enter the room, the heat of his fury chilling me.

Frank.

Taking a big gulp of air I slowly turned around to face my father in law. He had looked scary, that day in his garage when he warned me off. But now… If I could, I would take my men and happily get to the next war zone in no time. My father in law's eyes were blazing with rage and every muscle in his body seemed to be tensed.

"How the fuck could this happen, Manoso?" he demanded to know, not losing any time with niceties.

Guilt surged through me again like a hot knife but I pushed it back. "She was out for a run when she got abducted," I quietly said.

Frank's eyes narrowed. "On a run? My Kitten? What did you do to her?" he asked, looming.

Bracing myself, I met his eyes. "We had a fight, Frank. A bad one. So we went to vent. She went running and I came here."

His hands grabbed my collar and I was yanked forward to be inches away from his face. Frank had moved faster than I had seen it coming. Not that I was surprised. "You left her alone? Hurting, unprotected?" he asked, dangerously low.

I just nodded, averting my eyes. I was already feeling enough remorse. Nothing Frank said could enlarge the guilt I was feeling for letting my Babe get caught.

"You swore to protect her!" Frank reminded me.

I nodded again. Yeah I did. More than once. To God, to Frank, to her, to everyone who needed to know it. And still I failed.

"If something happens to her, I swear you're dead, Manoso. And to the contrary to you I stand to my oaths," Frank told me, icily.

At last I met his eyes again. "That won't be necessary, Frank," I told him coldly.

His eyes widened in understanding. Abruptly, he let me free, not without slamming me into the wall behind me though.

"Mr Plum!" Tank exclaimed and with three steps was between Frank and me. "Look, I understand your worry but this doesn't help Steph at all."

Taking a deep breath Frank turned away. I was still with my back to the wall. Finally Frank turned towards us again, this time his emotions under a tight control. "Right. So what do you know so far?"

Tank glanced at me and after I said nothing he quickly gave my father in law a summary of the meeting. Interested, I watched as Frank's eyes turned distant, digesting the facts. When he gave us his attention again, he looked resigned and scared. "I hoped I was wrong," he whispered, more to himself.

Fiery anger shot through my veins and I pushed away from the wall to stand before my father in law. He knew something. Somehow, he was connected to Steph's abduction. Rage overcame me like a hurricane and this time around it was my turn to grab for Frank's collar. "What do you know?" I bellowed.

This agony I was feeling since Connie's call, and Frank had known something about what had happened to my wife all the time. And he dared to make me feel guilty? I was going through the nine circles of hell and was out of my mind with worry and all this time, Frank held some of the answers I needed to get my Babe back?!

I saw red.

But before I could do anything for which I probably would never be able to look my Babe into her eyes again, I was yanked away from Frank and Tank pushed himself between us once more.

The short distance helped me to cool down a bit, but only a bit. "You better tell me anything you know before _I_ will forget myself!" I spat out.

"Calm down you two!" Tank exclaimed and glared at Frank and me. "Mr Plum, Ric did all he could to protect your daughter. What happened wasn't his fault. The way I see it, it would have happened anyway." Then he turned to me. "You better get that in _your_ head also! And I'm sure Mr Plum would have done whatever was in his power to prevent all this if he'd have known."

For a very long moment Frank and I glared into each other's eyes before Frank's eyes suddenly softened and he sighed. With a nod he signaled Tank that he was under control now. Him pulling himself together helped me to see through my rage induced haze and I too was able to pull myself together again. Tank looked at both of us mistrustfully before slowly stepping back a bit. When we two didn't go at each other again, he nodded relieved. Then he turned to Frank. "First of all, Mr Plum, how did you learn that the Bombshell is missing?"

Frank's eyes hardened and he drew a sheet of paper, that was carefully enwrapped in a plastic bag, from his pocket. "I got this thirty minutes ago," he told us in a cold voice.

Tank took it and I slowly moved closer to read it also.

_Icewolf_

_An eye for an eye._

_A tooth for a tooth._

A child for a child.

Blood for blood.

Death for death.

It wasn't signed, but usually, that wasn't necessary. Usually, the receiver of such a note knew the sender. And one look into Frank's distressed eyes and I knew it wasn't anything different this time around. The note had no meaning to me. But it wasn't hard to get the general message and my heart stopped beating. Horrified, I looked at the bloody fingerprint on it, having no doubt whose print it was. Black spots danced before my eyes.

_Death for death._

Steph.

My Babe.

_No..._

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: Okay, back from Verona and like promised, here the next chapter. Thanks for the nice reviews for the last one and I hope you like the twist in this chapter as well. For those who doesn't know: I'm a sucker for Frank Plum. Something tells me there is more in him that was revealed to us so far. So here's one version of what this could be. More soon!)_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_I was shivering. Didn't I just burn? Why was it so cold now? Was I dead?_

_With trouble, I tried to open my eyes, but somehow, they were sticking together. But I didn't give up. After a while I managed to open them to a slit. Still, glistening light hit my eyes and in my head a flash of sharp pain struck me and I cried out in agony, hurrying to close my eyes again against the light._

_A hand touched my head and the pain subsided. Then the hand proceeded to gently stroke my hair. With a relieved sigh I relaxed and the longer the blissful hand stroked over my hair, the more I fell into a content status. _

"_Thank you," I whispered gratefully._

"_Anytime, Kitten," the deep baritone of my father responded with a smile in his voice._

"_Dad?" I asked, surprised._

_The hand left my hair, but before I could protest my cheek was touched tenderly. "Yes, little one." _

"_What are you doing here?" I asked. Not that I was angry about that. In fact, I was already beyond relief. _

"_I'm always with you, Stephanie," Dad said matter-of-factly. _

_Stephanie. Dad only used my full name if he was either very serious or very angry with me. Judging from the warmth that spread through my freezing body, I bet it was the former this time. I smiled. "Good," I said, heartfelt._

_Dad only chuckled, his hand now stroking my cheek._

"_Where are we? It's so cold here," I wanted to know._

"_I know, Kitten. But you were too hot. You needed to cool down," Dad said, concern swinging in his voice._

_I thought about that. "It's not over yet, isn't it?"_

_The stroking stopped momentarily. Then Dad sighed. "No. I fear not."_

_Panic swept over me and broke over me like a big wave. "I'm scared!"_

"_No, Kitten! Don't be! I'm here. Ricardo's here. You have to hold on for us, baby," Dad said forcefully, his other hand grasping one of my hands and squeezing it tightly. _

"_I tried, Daddy," I whimpered in a small voice._

"_Don't give up now," Dad urged me on._

_Tears falling down, I shook my head. "It's so strong. I can't resist the darkness anymore."_

"_Yes you can, Stephanie! You're strong, stronger than anyone I know." Dad said with a bit anger in his voice. "You just have to hold on."_

_Suddenly I was tired. Why did I always have to fight? _

_The hold on my hand tightened. "Stephanie!" Dad bellowed._

_I sighed. "Yes, Dad."_

"_Promise me to hold on. No matter what," he said vehemently. "You hold on!" _

"_I try," I promised and had to shiver again. "But don't leave me alone, Daddy!" I exclaimed, grasping his hand tightly._

"_Never, my little Kitten," Dad reassured me with a hoarse voice. "Now sleep, baby," he told me gently._

_Right on cue I felt myself get heavy and slowly drift away. "I love you, Daddy," I whispered before I was whisked away again._

"_Shh now. I know." He kissed my forefront. "I love you too, Kitten."_

_Happy warmth spread out and with a content sigh, darkness once more claimed me._

* * *

In blind terror I slowly lifted my head and stared at my father in law. I opened my mouth to say something, but no tone came out. Swallowing hard, I tried it again, and this time I found a voice. It didn't sound like mine, but that was not imperative now. "What's this?" I asked him.

Frank's eyes narrowed. "I think it's pretty obvious what this is."

Anger flared up. "I _know_ what it is! I want to know what the business is behind this!"

"You of all people should know that," he replied coldly, his eyes piercing mine.

It took all I had to not rush over to him and throttle him. "Enough of this, Frank," I pressed out through my clenched jaw.

His hands fisted and suddenly I grew aware that it wasn't any better with his control than with mine. Shit. Tank was right. This didn't help my Babe in the least. My eyes dropped down to the bloody fingerprint and the blinding panic rushed through me again. I couldn't help that. But this time I didn't let it win.

"Just tell us the story," I said tightly, my eyes going to the top of the note. "_Icewolf._"

Tank nodded. "Best you start with that one, Sir."

I watched as Frank pulled himself together. The air around him stopped sizzling and slowly his fists relaxed. Before our eyes, calmness descended upon him. I envied him for that. It looked like I could still learn a lot from my father in law. If I'll be able to resist the need to kill him for endangering my Babe, be she his daughter or not.

Calm, he reached for the inside pocket of his jacket and retrieved a small black leather brieffold and flicked it to me. I caught it and opened it. My blood froze and suddenly a lot got a lot clearer for me.

Tank looked also and gasped a little, his head shooting up and staring at my father in law. "NSA? You're NSA? You're a spy?"

"We prefer agent, but yeah. I'm with the NSA for thirty years now, having been recruited right after Nam," Frank told us.

"You're still active?" I asked, fighting for control.

Frank glanced at me and shrugged. "Depends on how you see it. I'm the head of a special little unit, whose task is to deal with some more… delicate business," He said and it was clear that this was all he was going to say about his actual work. That was ok with me. I had no intention to get myself involved with the NSA. "I'm not a field agent anymore, but only sitting at a desk, speaking figuratively. So it's not really active," Frank elaborated.

No. It was worse. As the head of a special unit you were even more a target than as a plain agent. Again rage flared up inside me. He gave _me_ lessons about how to keep Steph safe from my dangerous life? But what about him? I was involved in some pretty shit, back in the Rangers and now too, working as an independent contractor for the government. But the NSA… it was way worse there. Nothing they touched was anything but lethal danger even if it was only a harmless case.

And before I knew it my mouth was already speaking. "And you're giving _me_ a hard time? Who's really endangering Steph's life here? Whose fault is it that she has been taken? And why for goddamn sake didn't you tell me?! I'd pulled up way tighter security if I'd have known she was endangered by NSA businesses!"

Frank's eyes turned to a chilling deadly, but it didn't faze me. Not really. I was too furious and scared for my Babe for that.

"I kept my family safe for thirty years now, Manoso. Not once my wife or my daughters had been in danger. That's more than can be said of you, can't it?" he asked sarcastically and I felt guilt spreading out when I thought about the few times my enemies attacked my wife. "If we know to do one thing in the NSA, then it is to keep secrets. I'm Frank Plum here and to the normal world. And I'm Icewolf when I'm with the NSA. The two are completely different people and have nothing to do with each other."

I laughed sarcastically. "Oh yeah, I can see that."

"Ric! Keep it together, man!" Tank hissed at me.

Frank just ignored my comment. "I don't know how Moknar found out about Steph. It should be impossible. Besides, my last encounter with Moknar lies back twelve years. Why now?"

"Moknar?" Tank asked.

Frank nodded. "Achmed Moknar. The one who left me this note. The man that has my daughter."

A name. We had a name. Hope flamed up. A name, a face, background. With that it would be way easier. Yeah, but Moknar also was an opponent of the NSA, a tiny voice told me. I ignored it. Instead, I thought about what could have initiated all this. I was careful with news about me and I bet Frank was too. Steph's celebrity collided with this need and made life a lot harder. If it was true that this must have happened by chance, then something must have been published somewhere it shouldn't be. I hadn't allowed any press to attend our wedding, even though there of course had been articles about it in the papers. Didn't mean though that one sneaky reporter didn't manage to take a picture at one time or another. But that would explain why one of my enemies would have her now. Not Frank's.

I frowned. "You say your real name wouldn't mean anything to him?"

"No," Frank denied, arching an eyebrow. Obviously this had been a stupid question.

"What about a picture?" I asked further.

Frank frowned. "Probably. That's why I don't allow pictures of me being published anywhere."

Yeah, so did I. Wasn't any guarantee though that there weren't any floating around. My brain worked frantically. Suddenly I got a low feeling. Damn.

_Fuck!_

I moved over to my desk and pressed a button.

"Ric?" Bobby asked.

"Screen the internet. Try to find out if any pictures where Steph and her father are on it together are floating around. Concentrate on recent ones, like our wedding pictures," I instructed.

"Will probably take some time, but I'll get it done as fast as possible." Bobby answered.

I broke the connection and turned to face Tank and Frank again.

Frank had paled a bit. "Shit."

I nodded darkly. The internet sure had its pros, but for people like us it could be devastating. My men and my family know they can't, under any circumstances, load pictures of me onto a webpage. But Steph knew the whole Burg and had tons of relatives, not to mention friends. And they all had been at the wedding or at the reception Ellen Plum had insisted on. It was impossible to control them all.

Tank looked from me to Frank. "Shouldn't we rather concentrate now on how to get the Bombshell back instead of how this Moknar guy found her in the first place?"

Of course. Frank still needed to give us a full report on Moknar. But the sooner we found out the source of all the trouble and eliminated it, the better. Thirty years. I didn't want to think how many dangerous enemies out on revenge could be out there. And by God, if Steph… I stopped, not allowing my mind to go any further. But if one of her stupid friends was responsible for this, then than person better start to make his or her testament and fast.

I glanced at the dead cold fury on Frank's face and knew that I'd have to fight for my right to take revenge though. Considering the afternoon when my father in law warned me off, I wasn't so sure who'd win this fight. Deep down I knew he'd have as much right as me for revenge – if not more. Oh well… perhaps we could make a compromise.

And between Frank and me we would make sure that this would be the last time my Babe has to pay the price for some idiot's stupidity.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's note: A short one, I know, but the next will be longer. Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for the reviews!)_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Oh, it hurt so much! Why did it hurt so much? In agony, I cried out.

No answer.

Confused I tried to concentrate on the sounds around me. Very, very faint I could hear some sound… but I didn't recognize them. It weren't voices. Why weren't there any voices? Where was my dad?

"Daddy?" I tried to whisper, but pain shot through me by even that little movement of my mouth. My throat burned and it felt like a hundred hot needles poking into my skin. I sobbed. But even though my eyes burned, I couldn't feel any wetness pooling in the corner of my eyes… What was wrong with me?

No one answered me. No one was with me. I was alone. Dad, Ric… they promised they wouldn't leave me alone! Then where were they now? If they were here they'd have answered me by now. I'd have felt some cool cloth gently being led on my forehead, would have felt their hands stroking my hair or cheek, their deep voices softly soothing me…

I didn't want to be alone. I wanted my dad or my man with me – or both. Or Mom. Or my Grandma Mazur. Hell, I'd even do with Valerie…

Misery engulfed me. Jeez, I was really feeling bad if I wanedt my annoyingly perfect sister with me. A shiver ran through me that made me tremble with my whole body. Pain shot through me, making me aching all over. A half groan, half gasp escaped my lips again and I wished I could just curl myself into a tight ball like a hedgehog. Too bad that that would hurt too much.

For a moment, I debated to try to open my eyes. A little voice told me that it was better for me to keep them closed. But there was a little problem. First, I was so confused that I wanted to get as much information as I could gather to try to stop the turmoil in my head. And second, even feeling so miserable, my curiosity still got the better of me. So very slowly I tried to open my lids.

Nothing.

It was like if they were glued to my cheeks.

Panic starting I quickly tried it again and this time I managed to lift my left lid to a very tiny slit. Blinding light hit me and I hurried to close my eyes again. Okaaaay… no more opening eyes, I told myself while I watched the many stars now dancing before my eyes. Or rather said dark spots. My head started to throb in a scrutinizing and still raising level.

Oww, oww, oww!

Lying as still on my back as I could I tried to figure out again what had happened. Ok, the last thing I remembered was another incredible night with Ric. No, wait… there had been a fight, right? Something about… a cucumber? No… I must be wrong. Who fights over a cucumber… that's ridiculous. Still, all I came up with when I tried to remember our fight was the picture of a cucumber. My headache giving me a sharp jolt of pain I left the cucumber thing alone. It wasn't worth it I thought.

Ok, what next? Struggling, I tried to remember through the fog my memories were hidden in. Shreds of unbearable heat, millions of stabbing grains of sand and glistening sun came to me. Suddenly, my eyes would have flown open if I'd dared to do that. That bastard! He'd done it! Sent me to a third world country! Ohhhh, when I got my _dear _husband I'd… _No!_ Something was wrong there. He wouldn't do that, at least not dropping me off in the desert like that… But then… how did I got here? And where was here?

I tried to remember if there was any psycho or enemy behind this. But there was nothing. Nothing at all.

Did Ric know where I was? No… that couldn't be, or he'd be here now – or wouldn't he? I had no idea how much time had passed since I got here, wherever that was. There was so much I didn't know – or didn't remember. I didn't even know that.

Abruptly all thoughts left me as out of the blue something touched my right leg and a excruciating fire spread from there throughout my entire sore body. The dark spots before my eyes grew until all there was was darkness.

* * *

It had been nice to think about what to do with the idiot that had posted pictures of my Babe and her dad in the internet. Because I was sure that was what had started this act of revenge after twelve years.

So much time.

Fear overwhelmed me – again – and for a moment I wasn't able to breath anymore. Quickly, I turned away so Tank and Frank wouldn't see how poor my control really was. Forcing myself to take deep, long breaths, I tried to block out my unwanted thoughts. But it was like that elephant thing: tell yourself to not think about it and all you do is think about it.

Twelve years.

I gulped. There's that saying: Revenge is best served cold. And how true that is… In twelve years you have so much time to think about what exactly you want to do as payback. Your mind has gone through millions of possibilities, picked out the bests things and perfected them. It can be a good thing. Like my still open payback to Steph for that Apusenja stunt she had pulled more than a year ago. She thinks I have forgotten it. She should know better. I never forget something like that. Soon I'd have put my plans in action. Oh, she would have hated me for it!

No, not would have. Will. I'll get her back, she'll be fine and then she'll get the payback of her life.

Yeah. That was the plan. I refused to believe anything else. I couldn't afford to believe anything else. Because otherwise, I'd break down. Simple as that. And my Babe had never needed me more than now.

Which reminded me again of the twelve years Moknar had the time to think of something to hurt Frank. In our business a revenge served cold is the most dangerous revenge for us – and the ones we love. I personally preferred a heated immediate reaction anytime. There was no way to know what Moknar had thought of. Not with not knowing the background.

"Tell us about Moknar," I demanded in a rough voice, still with my back to the others. "Everything," I added.

For a moment, Frank didn't answer. Probably he was thinking about what he wanted to say.

And sure enough he sighed. "I'll tell you what I can."

Not liking the sound of that answer I swirled around and glared at my father in law. "No. No 'top secret' bullshit! You will tell me every goddamn little detail you know of Moknar! No exception," I hissed.

Reluctantly Frank shook his head. "You know I can't do that," he said reluctantly.

"The fuck you can. In order to safe Steph we need all information. And by God, you will give me whatever I'll need to get my wife back!" I exclaimed, fully aware that the panic from before had now turned into white hot rage. I just didn't care about it anymore.

Frank stiffened and his eyes slit. "Cool down, Manoso. I know how it works, probably better than you."

"Then start with finally giving me what I need!" I ordered, furiously.

"You're no help to her like that, Ricardo," Frank softly said.

I trembled, at a lack of words for the moment. How dare he?! "I'm fine!"

"No you aren't. And that is good so. I would be seriously pissed if you were all cool with my daughter missing." Frank's eyes briefly shone with sympathy before they turned all busy and distant. "But that is the point none the less. It is _my daughter_ and if I can keep it together you better start so too. Or I will see to it that you are not involved in her retrievement at all."

Taken aback, I blinked. "You wouldn't dare," I said, sounding surer than I really was. If I've learned one thing over the years I knew Frank Plum, it was that he was a man who stood to his word – no matter what.

"I would and I will. Like you said. It's Steph's life at stake. And to make one more thing crystal clear here: I'm running the operation and I'm in charge as from now on. Either you accept that, here and now, or I will exclude you and RangeMan," Frank stated, piercing me with his iceblue eyes.

Through the haze I was in I suddenly recognized that from one minute to the other, Frank Plum, the man that was my father in law, had changed drastically to the NSA agent he claimed to be. And for the first time I really began to understand this. This man who was standing before me now had nothing in common with the Frank Plum the world knew: he was personified stealth, coolness and danger. No wonder they gave him the name Icewolf. But then, such men weren't unknown to me. In fact, Ranger was one of them as well. So I straightened and pushed Ric away once more. Probably not for the last time until I had my Babe in my arms again, but for now, the soldier in me was back.

Frank meant it. So there was no choice about my answer. "Ok. For now."

His eyes got a little bluer. "Not just 'for now'. I'm in charge and that's it."

I hesitated. I was the one in charge for years now and I didn't like to give way for anyone, especially not a man I had no idea how efficient he was. Even if it was Frank. Or perhaps _because_ it was Frank. Or Icewolf. Whatever.

"Ric. He's right," Tank murmured to me.

His quiet comment made me look at him and he looked at me with a mixture of expectation, understanding and threat. Clenching my jaw, I turned to Frank and gave a tight, short nod.

For a minute, Frank stared at me before he himself gave a short nod. "Sit down," he ordered.

Not losing any more time Tank and I sat down in our chairs and Frank moved to stand facing us. He reached for a black briefcase I hadn't noticed so far and pulled out two thin files. Then he met our eyes. "Nothing will leave this room, I hope that is clear."

Exasperated I nodded and saw Tank gave the same irritated nod.

"Good." Frank pushed the files over to us. "Achmed Moknar. Born July 17, 1953 in Algeria. Grew up in the slums of Tamanrasset. Visited the military school and served for ten years before he deserted to join a group of extreme right-wing terrorist group. Within five years he was the right hand of the leader, Mohamed Yousef Kolkiec. Until he skinned him alive and fed him to Kolkiec's own dogs. Since then he run the group. His first kill that we know of he committed with 13 years. What we know now of are 73 kills, 14 successful attacks, countless injured and forever damaged people. His actions and the action of his group though are responsible for hundreds if not thousands of dead people. In Algeria alone he almost extinguished the last Tuareg rebels. Police and politics fear him as if he were the devil personally and so it's safe to say he is one of the most powerful men there. He deals with guns and he sells death."

Jaw still clenched, now though out of completely different reasons, I stared down at the picture of a white man, though very tanned, with few wrinkles and all in all looking quite handsome. His eyes though…

"In March 1991 NSA captured one of his men while running an operation in Algeria of which I was in charge of. After some interrogation he revealed that Moknar was planning a coup on American soil at a conference of the UN in New York. Upon further investigation we learned that in fact, Moknar and his best man were already in the States. We were barely able to stop his man before a catastrophe of international tragedy happened. In order to do that I was forced to kill the other man though," Frank stopped and his eyes hardened. "It turned out that it had been Moknar's son, Fahid. His only son."

My blood run cold. '_A child for a child_.' That was what had been written in that note. That meant…

No.

Not going to happen.

"Moknar managed to escape and go under. First we managed to trace him in South Africa, before he fled. We picked up his trail again in Nigeria. But he was faster once more. The third time though we managed to capture him in the Sudan in 1993," Frank continued but got interrupted from Tank.

"_You_ captured him," he said, his eyes narrowed.

A very dark emotion flickered over Frank's face for a second before he gave a short nod. "He was wanted in the Sudan, but had good contacts there, that was why Moknar had fled there. After his capture we let the police of the Sudan have him and he got incarcerated into one of their prisons. His life expectation was pretty short there. And sure enough we got note that he had been killed 19 months later." Frank's eyes turned murderous. "I checked it out personally and it all looked in order, even though it took them two months to notify me through one of my contacts down there. Still, I didn't notice anything suspicious. Until 90 minutes ago I truly believed him dead."

It was even worse than I imagined. Fuck. Moknar had many reasons to hate Frank and I felt that Frank had only told us the basics so far. There still could countless more reasons be there. My Babe was in the hands of a ruthless murderer and terrorist, whose sheet showed exactly how good he was in being the perfect villain. What was I saying? He was the perfect personified devil. He knew how to inflict hurt, he knew how to torture, he had a tight net of contacts and could install enough fear of him to get him more or less untouchable. And the only one that seemed to have him defied had been Frank. Frank, who had not only stopped him, threw him into the hell on earth (because I knew the kind of prisons they had in the Sudan), and, if that wouldn't have been enough, had also killed his only son.

And that bastard had my Babe.

_A child for a child._

_Blood for blood._

_Death for death._

And was determined to kill her.

* * *

After that I had fled the room. I couldn't let them see me breaking down. And I felt my thin composure breaking. Good, it wasn't everyday you learned that a real sick bastard out on deadly revenge had your wife at his mercy. Still. I was a soldier, damn it! A Ranger! Years of training, a decade of serving and experience and a simple threat note still managed to throw me and render me a useless… _victim_. I hated it. I hated my failure. My Babe needed the soldier in me more than ever before, and still I just couldn't act.

Of course nothing in training, or serving or otherwise experience could prepare you for a situation like this one. We learn to detach ourselves, yeah. But Steph was my breath. My heart. My soul. My life. She was everything. How could I detach myself from the very essence of me? From what gave me strength?

Trembling with the effort of holding myself together, I reached my office and shut and locked the door behind myself. Frank's voice repeated over and over Moknar's rap sheet. All I could see with my blurry vision was the bloody fingerprint and the _'Death for death' _line on the note.

With a roar I grabbed the computer on my desk and smashed it against the wall, quickly moving in to kick into the dark screen. Sparkles flew and I gave it another last kick before turning around and grabbing the chair next to it and send it with a loud tinkling bust out of the window. The second chair followed it, but only after I first slammed it full force at the wall. In a blind rage I continued to trash my office, smashing what I could find around and kicking and hitting the desk and walls.

I had no idea how long I was raging in there until some of my tension and fury and freezing panic was spent before the need to be on a wrath path left me and I slid down a wall to a desperate heap, my face buried in my arms.

I couldn't feel my Babe anymore.

The connection we had, on some unexplainable level of our consciousness – it was gone.

'_Death for death.'_

Was she already dead? Had Moknar already ripped her away from me? He didn't seem to be the type to risk a rescue of his victims. He wanted to torture Frank, and he did that well, but Steph didn't mean anything to him but a tool to destroy Frank. Her being so indifferent to him could mean very well that he had already killed her…

I always had thought I'd feel it if my Babe… wasn't in this world anymore. That somehow I would feel my heart stop beating, my soul dying or something. Through that connection we shared. But now that connection was gone. And I couldn't tell if she was alive or not. If the loss of the connection meant her death – or that she simply was – out of reach, perhaps. I doubted that though. Sometimes on my missions I had been on the other end of the world and still been able to feel her. But… if she was unconscious or so deep under – that could have happened. That I couldn't feel her just because she's so out of it that her essence was too far away for me to reach her.

It was what I had to believe.

Lifting my head I pressed the ball of my fists to my eyes, willing myself to stop panicking. To stop trembling with fear and fury. To stop feeling. To stop living. To only function. To be able to think clearly again. To calm down. To be able to act. To be who my Babe needed me to be right now.

Slowly, I picked myself up from the floor and took a deep breath. I really hoped that this was the last time I had to shut myself down in order to get my control back.

Pushing that thought away as well I turned my thoughts to what was important.

I had a mission.

To find my Babe. Dead or alive.

And to find and kill Achmed Moknar.

Devoid of emotion I calmly walked to the door, unlocked and opened it. I stepped out, leaving my humanity behind in the trashed office.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: Isn't it just powerful if a controlled man like Ranger loses it like that? Sigh. Hail to ff! Okay, hope you enjoyed it as much as me and stay tuned for the next chapter on Monday!"_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"What do you have to tell us Rohan?" I asked, making it clear that a 'nothing new' was unacceptable.

It was 1700 and I had called in another meeting to see what my teams had learned during the rest of the day. There had been a serious lack of updates that I didn't like at all. But then, there hadn't been much from my side either. All day I've been calling in favors, called contacts who knew perhaps something – coming up with nothing. What was worse: it was the same with Tank and Frank.

Rohan didn't look happy either. "We still weren't able to get an ID or accurate description of this stranger. What we do know is that he arrived at 0530 at the little strip out at Larry's. It had been arranged that a car, a black van precisely, were to wait there. Moe had it delivered. He said the contract was running until midnight, with a John Smith. Payment ahead on his bank account. But the transfer came from a number account in Switzerland, so we're stuck there too. The weapons he picked up were at Tony's and Sally's. Again, prepaid, preordered. No one saw him, no one knows a name. It's – frustrating," he sighed, glancing at me warily.

Yeah, that was one way to say it. I gave a nod and fixed my eyes on Lester. "What about the flights from Larry's?"

"The one arriving 0530 was coming from New Mexico. The only one going out in the evening was 2145 to LA," Lester reported.

I frowned. "Just because this guy wanted the van until midnight doesn't mean he left then. Can be he picked a flight at midday or in the afternoon."

"If he is the kidnapper at all," Tank threw in.

"I think he is our man. It's too convenient for me," I said. "I just wish someone had seen the guy."

"Anyway, there were only two more flights from Larry's that weren't regular. One at 1120 to Chicago and one at 1355 to Samaná, Dominican Republic. It's likely they traveled further there, but without a name or description…" Bobby didn't need to continue.

I nodded and looked at Frank who had followed the reports with interest. Now he sat up a bit. "I agree with Ranger that this man is probably our man. It's not quite typical Moknar, but close enough to his usual pattern. And I bet he left with Stephanie on the plane to Samaná. Moknar has a friend there."

Lester peeked up. "I could organize a team to get to Samaná and check the place out. Having a little chat with this friend."

Glancing at Frank I motioned him to give his opinion. I thought it unlikely that Moknar was still there, but perhaps I was wrong. But Frank confirmed my suspicion. "That would be useless. He's long gone from there. And he isn't likely to let outsiders in on his plans. That was always one of the strengths of him: He was the only one who knew about an operation. He used a variety from dogsbodies for small executive parts. It made it extremely hard to have an eye on his businesses."

"Then what now?" James asked, looking from me to Frank.

"I'm certain he's back in Africa. Perhaps even in Algeria," Frank slowly said.

"I agree. He wants to do this his way, on his turf. Besides, it's too dangerous anywhere near the States. He must know that Frank's and my contacts are too exhaustive to be safe for him," I added.

"You both are probably right, but the problem is that none of my African contacts knew something. They heard of Moknar, a few even admitted that they know that he's alive. But no trace of him. We can't go blindly to Africa," Tank protested. "The Bombshell can't afford the time loss we'd have to hunt ghost trails."

As if I wouldn't know that! Quickly, I pushed the emotion away. "We would still gain the day we need to get over the ocean."

"And sooner or later Moknar will make contact with me. He wants revenge, he wants it personal. I think he's waiting for me to come to him and only then he will send me another note," Frank said, emotionless.

Too emotionless. If I get that tone then it's because inside me, my feelings are warring and I expect the worst to happen. I briefly searched his hard eyes and looked away. What he hadn't said was that he thought that a second note would probably include some nice pictures of Steph. God, I only hoped it would only be pictures and not parts of her. I've read whatever Frank had brought about Moknar, including viewing pictures of his victims. Some of them made even my stomach turn over. And I had seen a lot of nasty and cruel things.

Clenching my jaw, I concentrated back on the matter at hand. "Sean, get the plane ready. We're leaving in an hour. My team, Rohan's and Raoul's are going. Full equipment. Tank, contact our partners in Algeria that we're coming. Tell them to get us what we'll need to move around there. Frank?"

Frank nodded. "My team already got in touch with our contacts in Algeria and a few other countries we think Moknar could have gone to. Me and three men of mine will join you. I already asked for the papers necessary, though I still need the personal data from your men."

I nodded. "James."

James nodded and left to get the data ready.

"That's it then," I told them and looked back to Sean. "You're in charge of the businesses here. Maintain regular contact basis every three hours. Continue to try to find someone who saw our guy with the van. Further ask around if a black van was seen this morning near my home. Should you get anything that tells us we're on the wrong track I want to be notified immediately."

Sean gave me a nod as acknowledgement and left as well. I looked at the remaining men. "Rohan, Raoul, go inform your teams and pack your equipment." My gaze traveled to Bobby and Lester. "I want you to get some of the special ladies from the treasure. You know what I have in mind."

Lester gave a feral smile. "You bet we do. Ah, it will be a blast to get used to Shelly again." He left while Bobby lingered back. I frowned. "Yeah?"

"About the web search you had me doing…" Bobby said, his eyes flickering from me to Frank to Tank, back to me.

I signed him to continue. "I think I've found the leak. There was a real sweet picture of Mr Plum and Steph dancing the father-daughter dance at the wedding uploaded on a private website," Bobby told us.

"Whose?" I asked icily.

The fact that Bobby hesitated a moment told me that he didn't like to rat the culprit out. Not that I cared. "It was Mooner," Bobby finally said. "I took the picture down as well as every other potential dangerous ones." He stopped and looked worriedly from my blazing eyes to Frank's frosted ones. "Look, he didn't know what he was doing. I bet no one ever told him what such a harmless photo gallery could cause. He loves Steph," he defended Mooner.

I looked away. Damn. Bobby was right. Mooner didn't know what he had done. How should he? If he had known in how much danger he had put Steph by uploading those pictures in the net he wouldn't have done it, and were he completely gone in a drug induced high. He loved Steph, respected her. Besides, Steph would never forgive me if I'd killed Mooner. She liked the guy, called him a friend. Damn. He even saved her life once. So killing was out. Too bad. I glanced at Frank, and by the frustration in his eyes I could see that he had come to the same realization. Our eyes met and we made a mutual decision. I smiled. Mooner would live, but he would get the scare of his life. Never again would he endanger my Babe in such a manner.

But now was not the time for that. Once we were back and my Babe safe back home, then we could deal with Mooner. "All right, Bobby. Thanks. Now go help Lester with the ladies."

Bobby gave a silent nod and left quietly.

Looking over to Tank, I saw that he was already getting up. "I know, I know. Cash, papers, phone calls." Not waiting to see if I wanted him to do more he vanished through the door. Lucky for him that he guessed all my orders for him right.

Slowly, I sat down and looked over the table at Frank. For a long moment we just looked at each other, neither of us speaking. But then it wasn't necessary. We knew well enough what went through the other's head. Finally, Frank pushed himself up. "I need to inform my team about the plans."

I nodded, looking away.

When he sighed I looked back to him though and was surprised to see his worry and tiredness for the first time since he got here. "And I need to tell Ellen that I have to go away."

My heart clenching, I shook my head. "We were invited to dinner at yours tonight."

"I'll tell her you can't make it." Frank reassured me and turned around.

"Frank?" I called.

He turned back, looking at me, waiting.

"Does Ellen know?" I asked uncertainly.

"Of course. Not the details of course, but she knows for whom I am working. She's my wife, my partner. I wouldn't have been able to keep such a secret from her," Frank said with a smile.

No, it wasn't. And you shouldn't have to. If a man in Frank's position married he should be certain that his wife would be able to handle it. I should know. My first wife was completely unqualified for my lifestyle and it had ended with us hating each other. Only after meeting and marrying Steph I understood what a true partnership between man and woman could really be like. I still marvel sometimes at how easy she can accept my lifestyle. Not only that, she had just adapted herself to it and became an irreplaceable part of both, Ranger and Ric's life.

But this time Icewolf's business affected Ellen as well. "Will you tell her? About Steph?"

His smile vanished and he looked away. "I have to," he said flatly. "She would find it out anyway, with Steph vanishing without a word to her, with me _and_ you leaving on a mission shortly afterwards. She'd sense it. It's best I tell her now."

That made sense. Ellen may be a typical Burg wife and I had to admit it was hard picturing her as the woman of a NSA-agent. On the other hand she was a mother with their unnerving instinct to know if something was wrong with their children. And it also explained some things. Like her aversion against me in the beginning. Or her obvious disappointment when Steph and I started to go out and get serious with each other. She hadn't been happy. Perhaps hitting it a bit too close for comfort?

"Tell her I'm sorry," I quietly said, fisting my hands.

For a long moment, I felt Frank's eyes on me. "I will, but you don't have anything to be sorry for. This isn't your fault, Ric."

I didn't answer.

With a sigh, Frank left.

* * *

Three fucking days!!

For three fucking days we were here now, searching Africa for traces of my Babe.

And we've found nothing.

No one had seen her. No one had heard anything of an American woman being captured or something alike. We had a continental wide note sent out to all the hospitals to get informed, if someone fitting Steph's description got delivered in. Again nothing. We went through the morgues. Thankfully nothing there either.

Of course we also worked the Moknar angle. But there it was the same: no one had heard something, no one had seen something and no one knew something. We didn't found even one trace – and this with NSA and Rangemen resources, not to mention pretty much every contact we have looking for my wife and her kidnapper.

And with each minute that passed I felt myself grow colder and more numb. I hadn't slept since my wife got ripped away from me – apart from a drug induced sleep last night as Tank had outwitted me and Frank. I barely ate, only the most necessary nutrias, keeping myself going mostly by fluids. A part of me wondered if that was my fate now. Slowly dying from the inside. Until we found her. If she was alive… God. I'll probably die a decade earlier, but all would turn well again, despite what she may have gone through, if we could just find her alive.

If she was found at all. If not… Well, I knew what I had to do then as well. But what if we never found her? I've seen people not able to give up a futile mission and I always thought what poor bastards they were. And now I was on the edge to become one of them as well. Because one thing I knew without doubt: I wouldn't give up until I knew what had happened to my wife.

I couldn't.

With a sigh, I turned back to watch Frank talk with one of his informants. The snitch had insisted on seeing him alone, so Tank, Rover, one of Frank's men, and I were staying back, building a security circle around him – ready if the snitch tried something to harm Frank.

Not that I thought we'd have a chance to intervene before Frank had killed the poor guy. Because I wasn't the only one here being dangerously close to his limits – and to that edge. The edge that made the difference between sane and crazy. Between having a heart or a cold lump inside the chest. Between being one of the good or bad guys. Being a soldier only doing what was necessary – or being a clod blooded killer.

Frank hadn't had more sleep than I – and even lived on fewer nutrias than me, which was pretty difficult. With each day passing without a note on Steph the soul in his eyes died a bit more, and I often wondered if my eyes looked the same. And when he came back from his daily update to Ellen – it's hard to describe. Somehow having to tell Steph's mom about the lack of progress was worse than getting it confirmed by another source that they didn't know anything. It pulled him down considerable and I could understand that – to some part. This was his child after all. He knew and loved her since she was just a tiny embryo. Had spent most of his life with the task of protecting her. And now…

I have a daughter too. Lena. And I've done everything to protect her. Hardly anyone knows she exists. Know that I had fathered a child. Not even Lena herself. Her mother had divorced me while I was a POW and when I came back, having been declared MIA and then dead, she had already been remarried and her new husband had adopted her. I could have fought them – but truth was that I didn't know Lena, had hardly seen her, hadn't been there for her birth. But Jorge had been, had been in her life forever and she knew him as a father. I was just a stranger to her. Sure, I loved her – but watching Frank's pain I knew that I would never have this same feeling for Lena. I saw her whenever I could; I was uncle Ric to her, a friend of her mother and the brother to her father. Ironic – I had asked Jorge to look out for my pregnant wife while I was on missions – not knowing that I played Cupid for them with this request. There were no hard feelings between me and my brother. I had never loved Linette and the pregnancy had been one of those things that happen when you have unsafe sex when you're drunk. We married because we thought we had to – both of us being catholic and raised old fashioned.

In hindsight we both knew it had been the wrong thing to do. For Lena, for Lisette and for me. At least it ended pretty well. Jorge made them both happy and I have never seen my brother so happy in his life – well, perhaps at the birth of their son Zerafin. And I – I was happy with my Babe. And looking forward to have with her what I could never have had with Linette: a family.

Now, of course, it may be that I never will even get that chance.

Frank turned away from the snitch and one look in his eyes was enough: another failure.

Where were they?

Fighting against the hopelessness threatening to overwhelm me, I watched as Frank walked dejectedly towards me. Once he reached me he never said a word, nor was I able to speak around the big lump in my throat. So we waited until Tank and Rover joined us before we went to our truck to drive back to our hotel.

I felt Tank eyes on me and knew without looking that Rover was looking the same way at Frank. Cautious. Worried. Fearing a nervous breakdown any minute. Their looks had gotten warier with each new bad news. A part of me was surprised those two hadn't taken over yet. But they probably knew that neither Frank nor I would stop looking, stop asking around. Of course, officially we'd accept their opinion. But nothing would stop us to continue privately.

Two hours later we arrived at the hotel we called our base for the moment. I had sent Rohan and Raoul's teams to the neighbor countries and Lester and Bobby were on the other end of Algeria. This way I figured we'd be able to find her sooner. I still believed that, even though it was hard not to think that all we did was for nothing at the moment. And that while we chased white bunnies she was going through things unspeakable. Digging my nails into the palms of my hands I stomped after Frank to our room, where our intelligence center was stationed. I motioned to Tank and Rover to give us ten minutes while they could go to theirs to fresh themselves a bit.

This had become our routine. We four went out, not daring to hope, but doing it anyway of course. We spread out while one or two of us talked with the informant. We got our hopes crushed another time. We would drive back in silence. Once there Frank and I would need a break to wallow in our self misery and get our composure straight again. The others would join us, we'd contact the other teams and our home bases and then we'd discuss what to do next. And the whole circus started again.

But when I closed the door behind us, I noticed that something was different this time.

Someone was in the room.

Going for my glock, I swirled around. But not fast enough. A hand closed around my wrist and the weapon was wrangled out of my hand. I tried to kick out, but found myself blocked. Falling down, I tried to kick out my opponent's legs but suddenly, I felt someone coming at me from my back too, so I turned the kick to a round about kick, hearing with satisfaction as my boot connected with the groin. Not losing any time though I twisted around to take care of the first attacker but found myself looking down the barrel of an Uzi. Before I had a chance to think about what to do now I felt four more barrels being pressed into my sides, my back and one to the back of my head.

Grinding my teeth, I slowly held up my arms, signing them my surrender. I was good. But even I could do nothing with 5 arms pressed into me by – I looked around – by four masked men. Slowly turning to face the whole room I saw that Frank was as surrounded and outmaneuvered as me. If no one was hiding somewhere I counted 13 men in our room. Twelve of them were masked.

The 13th sat on one of the chairs in the middle of the room. Recognizing him immediately I felt a hate raging through my veins like I never knew one before. I wanted to rush over there and beat that smiling face to a bleeding pulp. But I could hold myself back. I have no idea how I managed that, the need to kill that asshole was so overwhelming, but I did. I looked over at Frank and saw that he wore his mask, completely devoid of emotions. Right, that was how I should have reacted to the sight of this man as well, but…

Besides, it wasn't as the bastard seemed to even know of my existence. His eyes were solely fixed on Frank's.

"J'ai entendu que tu me cherches, mon ami," Moknar said with a feral smile.

_(Translation: I heard you're looking for me, my friend.)_

* * *

I understood enough French to more or less know what Moknar had said to Frank. French wasn't one of my fluid foreign languages, but I did have some basic courses and the last few days spent in Algeria had brought me up to day a bit. And at his mocking words I felt my control snap.

Before I knew what I was doing I moved forward, the barrels pressing hard into my skin to stop me. I ignored them all, even though I was stopped, my entire focus set on Moknar while I stared with all the hate I felt at him. "Where is my wife?" I demanded to know with a guttural roar.

His dark eyes broke the contact with Frank's and he looked over to me with an amused smile that only stirred my white burning anger more. "Ah, Monsieur Mañoso. It's a pleasure to meet you finally. You've made quite a reputation. I can't say how much I was pleased that by taking my revenge on Monsieur Plum here I would also have the pleasure to finally have an opportunity to deal with you as well," he chuckled and beamed at me. "Even better. I had the fortune that Frank's daughter is now your wife. And I can see that I achieved what so far no one has achieved:" He stood up and walked within a short distance of me. I struggled against the hands holding me back, but never lost my eye contact with him. His smile got really satisfied and big. "I really hit you where it hurts. I, not even really out on revenge against you, in fact not even caring about that aspect of my holy mission, me, Achmed Moknar, succeeded to win against you."

I breathed hard. "Where. Is. My. Wife?" I repeated, barely able to get out the words through my gritted teeth.

With shining eyes, Moknar looked from me over to Frank who still wore a mask completely devoid of emotions. With a last amused smile towards me he walked over to my father in law. "Your son in law lacks an important level of control, mon vieux ami. I'm surprised people fear him this much."

Frank didn't answer while I just gave him a deep growl in response.

"Tu n'as rien à dire à ça?" Moknar mocked.

Frank slowly looked over to me, then back to Moknar and shrugged. "He loves her deeply. But you already know that, or you wouldn't have such a pleasure torturing him, who has never done anything to you. But then, you always liked to draw your pleasure out of the pain of others."

Moknar's eyes chilled. "And yet he seems more to care about la belle Stéphanie than you, her father."

Again, Frank didn't honor Moknar's taunting with a reaction. Somewhere through the red haze of my fury I wondered how he could do it. Damn, I was good at these things, hell, I'm one of the bests in keeping my emotional distance and yet I was worse off than a green rookie right now. I was a mess.

"What have you done to her?" I yelled, wanting to come back to what was important here: my wife. Not Moknar's little plays with me and Frank.

A bright laughter filled the room. "What do you think I did?" Moknar asked, directed at me.

I breathed heavily, but this time I didn't yell. "Just tell me," I pleaded. Yes, I actually pleaded. Anything to get this man giving us the necessary hints to find out where he was hiding my Babe.

Briefly I wondered if Moknar had taken care of Tank and Rover as well. Perhaps. Probably. Which could turn out to be a problem. But we'd know soon enough. Ten minutes I had given them to join us again. Those ten minutes were soon up. Shouldn't they turn up – yeah, what then? Would it mean that they had been captured as well – or that they were free? Rationality returning to me, I thought about what we could do. Most of all we had to get to know Steph's location and fate from Moknar. Next: We had to get out of here alive in order to be able to safe my Babe. 'So you better calm down,' I mentally told myself and took deep breaths to achieve just that.

If Tank and or Rover were free, we had a good chance to overwhelm these men. They may have been outnumbered, but they lacked our training. With a little advantage – like the element of surprise - we could overwhelm them. Nothing else was acceptable. If Moknar had them secured though – well, then Frank and I had to bring him to take us to Steph.

"Why don't you let my daughter go? You wanted me – you have me. And you even have Manoso as well, as a bonus." Frank's suggestion made me concentrate back on the actual happenings again, just with more control than before. I wasn't completely back under control, that I probably wouldn't be until I had my Babe back and safe in my arms.

"S'il te plaîs! This is really beneath you," Moknar derided, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Stephanie has nothing to do with this," Frank said sharply, anger flaring up in his eyes for the first time. "She's innocent!"

"My son was innocent too!" Moknar spat out hatefully.

"No. He was part of your dirty organization and he was an active part in the attack on the UN. He was far from innocent," Frank said coldly. "But my daughter truly is innocent."

"You killed Fahid!" Moknar exclaimed. "He had all his life before him, had a wife, a son on the way and you robbed him of that. Robbed me of him. Robbed his wife and son of him."

"I did my duty," Frank calmly responded. His eyes flickered briefly to me and in that second I could see that he had come to the same conclusion as me. He looked back at Moknar, eyes and face hard. "Besides, it was you who killed your son. _You_ dragged him into your dirty business and _you_ gave him that mission that led to his capture and ultimate death."

"Don't you dare to blame me! You killed him!" Moknar hissed, glaring hatefully at Frank. Then, suddenly, he smiled evilly. "Mais si tu crois ça c'est juste…" He paused before his smile got even crueler. "Then it would mean the same to you when I did _my_ duty: it was you who killed your own daughter."

_Killed?_

My blood chilled and my heart roared in unimaginable pain. I could see Frank going pale as well, his eyes wide with fear. "What have you done?" he whispered, for the first time since we got to Algeria really thrown by what he had heard.

Before Moknar had a chance to continue to gloat and bask in our agony, the windows to the room exploded and smoke started to fill our room.

_Translations:_

_mon vieux ami – My old friend_

_Tu n'as rien à dire à ça? – You have nothing to say about that?_

_la belle – die schöne_

_S'il te plaîs! – Please !_

_Mais si tu crois ça c'est juste… - But if you think that that is right…_

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: Moving this story a bit along - and entry of the bad guy. Hope you enjoyed it! A quick note to the facts: I know that they don't agree with what we learned in the last few books, mainly Twelve Sharp. But remember that this is an old story, written before book twelve had come out, so Ranger's background in this story is my own. This said, thanks again for the reviews and stay tuned for the next chapter!)_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

I broke away from the guards in order to give me enough space to raise my left arm to cover my mouth and nose. The smoke made my eyes tear and already I started to cough. But I was trained to function in those circumstances. Not losing any time I kicked out and hit one of the weakened guards on the spleen. I grabbed his gun and killed three more men with a shot between each one's eyes.

Human canon balls crushed into the room, wearing gasmasks. The smoke was now already filling the room with a white fog, hardly able to see through. Gun fire lightened up and the sound of charged weapons rang in my ears. The smell of gun powder filled the room even while I backtracked to try to find cover. A hand on my shoulder stopped me and I was already in the move to give my attacker a kick into his throat that would kill him when I felt two tabs on my hand. Just in time I averted my arm and the blow ran only into air. I faced the man who held out a gas mask to me. Quickly I slipped it over my head and took a deep breath of clean air. I switched on the head sets and the infrared vision covered over the glass, telling me where the men in the room were.

"Status?" I asked.

"Six dead, three contained," Tank reported.

I looked into the direction Frank had been in and I saw one red scheme surrounded by three others. While I watched one attacked the middle man – and went down three seconds afterwards, the red cooling down a bit. I smiled. Frank was handling it.

"Moknar?" I asked emotionless.

"Not sure."

I growled. Not that his life held any worth to me, but before he died – and die he would – he had to tell us about Steph. And if she… No, this was not the right time or place. I looked around, counting the men in the room. Seventeen. Hmm, thirteen of Moknar's men, Frank and me, Tank and probably Rover. Frank's three other men probably were out securing the escape routs. By now eight red schemes showed a fading red, meaning they were the bodies. Still only three were motionless and contained in the right corner of the room, one scheme standing before them. Probably Rover standing guard. Checking on Frank's position again I saw that he was in battle with another one. Then that left me one other to take care of. I looked around and froze. Quickly turning my head I counted again. Sixteen!

"One's escaping! DON'T let him get away. All teams, one missing. Could be our target. Contain with all means necessary but killing. We need him alive! Repeat: need him alive!" I ordered and rushed out the room, Tank following me. A second later I heard another set of running footsteps joining us. Frank. Reaching the hallway we stopped. Frank sent Tank North, me South, while he went East. The West should have been covered by the rest of the team.

It took us twelve endless long minutes before Tank's voice came over the com. "I have him secured. Three buildings down the street, behind in the court yard. It's Moknar."

Yeah, that I had expected. The big bad boss usually left his men to escape. Not like us. We would never leave a man behind if we had a choice. "Coming," I said, Frank echoing my response.

Three minutes later I stepped into the court yard to see Tank standing with his weapon aiming at Moknar's head, who sat leaning against one of the walls, while Frank was just kneeling down before him. I joined them.

"Where's my daughter, Moknar?" Frank asked, his voice pure chill.

Moknar didn't answer.

Frank's hand shot forward and closed around Moknar's throat. "The only reason why you're still alive is because I want to know what you've done to my daughter. You better start talking. Where. Is. She?"

Moknar looked up finally, his eyes burning with hate, blood tripling down from a wound on his temple. "Tu crois que la mort me fait peur? Je n'ai rien du tous à perdre plus encore." He paused and chuckled – as far as that was possible with a hand pressing his throat together. "Je veux que tu souffre, mon ami. Comme moi j'ai souffrais."

"You've got nothing to lose anymore?" Frank asked with a feral smile. "What about your wife? You're daughter in law? Your grandson?"

For the first time, Moknar's easiness slipped and fear filled his eyes. "You wouldn't," he whispered.

"You crossed the line by going after my daughter. My blood. You can believe me that I will do whatever it takes to get my daughter back," Frank told him icily. No. This was Icewolf and no one else. I believed him – to a certain point. Moknar believed him everything. But then again, the Algerian had a better look into Icewolf's eyes than I. "If you lead me to her I may spare them."

For a long time Moknar didn't say anything while I waited with bated breath, my heart pounding loud in my ears.

Finally, the bastard managed a smile. "Qu'est-ce que tu penses? Elle est morte."

My heart stopped pounding and I felt my knees giving away as I sank down into the sandy dirt.

No.

No.

Not my Babe.

No...

Frank's voice was rough as he talked. "How? What have you done?!"

"Is this important? She's dead. Killed by me to avenge my son _you _took away from me. A child for a child." Moknar shrugged, before he gasped for air as Frank's hand tightened his grip around Moknar's throat.

"How?" Frank screamed into his face.

Tank emphasized the demand with a hard blow into Moknar's neck, his eyes gleaming deadly.

Moknar bate his lips before he glared into Frank's eyes. "I abandoned her in the heart of the desert. Unconscious. Without water. In the clothes she wore and nothing else." He laughed. "Four days ago. You'll never find her."

I stared at him with shocked eyes, my vision blurry. My Babe? Out there? In the Sahara? With _nothing_ to help her survive out there? The beautifully creamy white satin skin of hers exposed to the cruel sun of Africa? Her soft lips – rough by lack of water? My Babe, without any weapon to ward off animals like scorpions, snakes and only God knew what else… And… there had been a sandstorm two days ago! She…

Pain overwhelmed me and I swooned while I pressed my hand against my heart that was torn apart bit by bit with each horrific image coming up before my eyes.

Dimly the sound of pounding reached my ears and I looked up. Frank and Tank were beating on Moknar. Killing him. Slowly. Like he deserved it for letting my wife die such a slowly, painful death. But beating him to death was too good for that bastard. And… he still needed to point me towards my wife.

"Stop," I said, but it only came out as a whisper, the lump in my throat too big. I swallowed anyway. "Stop!" I said again, stronger this time. But still too weak to get through to the two men lost in their rage. Probably no words could do that though.

Slowly, I pushed myself up and nothing in my life had ever been so difficult. All my strength had left me. But it would still be enough to get to my Babe. Determined, I moved and pushed myself between Frank and Tank and Moknar, shielding Moknar with my body. "Stop," I ordered hoarsely, glaring at them.

"Why! You heard what he has done to her!" Tank roared.

I passed him a very cold glare. "Yeah. And he will pay for it – slowly, painfully and suffering for each and every one of my Babe's wounds. But not right now. We still need him."

Frank was breathing heavily, but his eyes narrowed. He glanced at Moknar, then back to me. "You want him to bring you to her," he said.

My eyes found his and I found my pain mirrored in his eyes. "I won't leave her alone out there," I told him, my voice quivering a tiny bit.

After a moment, he nodded and looked down, his hands fisting and opening over and over again. "No. You're right. We can't leave my kitten alone," he looked past me to Moknar who laid groaning on the floor. "You will show us where you left her."

Moknar laughed sarcastically. "If you absolutely want to. You won't find her again. Forever lost to you. How does that feel, Icewolf? How does it feel to know you will never see your daughter again, Frank? How does it feel to know that your deeds killed her and to know you will have to tell your woman that her daughter won't come home?"

With a howl like coming from a hurt animal Frank pushed past me and pounded his foot into Moknar's stomach. Not that I cared. As long as he stayed alive and more or less conscious I was content with whatever Frank did to him right now. It was his right. But kill him – that would be my honor. For now though I needed to get away from Moknar before I lost it. I needed to be alone because I was going to lose it. Bad. "Tank, get a plane ready. You know what we need. Inform the teams. We're leaving Tamanrasset as soon as we can," I croaked out and walked away, not waiting for him to answer.

I walked blindly, not caring where I was going, as long as I simply got away. When I finally stopped I noticed that I had ended up at an old ruin at the border of the small town, the Sahara in front of me.

The Sahara.

A scream broke out of me and I fell down onto my knees. My eyes were burning as I screamed desperately for my Babe.

Screamed at the desert to give me my wife back.

Cried and mourned while my soul slowly started to die.

* * *

I don't know how long I kneeled there in the sand. It was pointless. Everything was pointless.

Steph, my wife, my beloved Babe, my life – dead.

But – was she really?

I tried to ignore that little voice in the back of my head, not wanting to lose myself in false hope. Still…

Moknar hadn't killed her. He had only abandoned her out there.

Without water.

Without proper protection against the burning sun or chilling night. Not to mention all the other dangers out there.

But Steph wouldn't simply sit there and wait for death. She'd try to save herself, would try to get help, to find shelter.

Steph wasn't trained in surviving out there though. The desert was a cruel, hard place. Even the best trained people would have a weak chance to survive in her situation. Left with nothing…

But my Babe was a survivor. She may have no training, but she sure has experience in surviving. Not in those circumstances of course. But if anyone could still survive then it was my wife.

No. No, I shouldn't get my hopes up. What about my band with her, that strange, deep connection? I had lost it. Four days ago. When Moknar dropped her out there. I couldn't feel her anymore.

Slowly, I opened my eyes again and looked out into the endless sand dunes.

And still… I may not be able to feel her presence now – but I hadn't felt her loss either. It didn't feel as if she was ripped away from me forever. There was still life inside of me. Sure, it was pretty close to dead in there right now, but – there was still some light. Some hope.

"Babe?" I whispered, staring out into the Sahara.

_Translations:_

_Tu crois que la mort me fait peur? Je n'ai rien du tous à perdre plus encore. - _

_Do you believe that death scares me? I've got nothing to lose anymore._

_Je veux que tu souffre mon ami. __Comme moi j'ai souffrais. – _

_I want you to suffer my friend. __Like I've suffered._

_Qu'est-ce que tu penses? __Elle est morte. – What do you think? She's dead._

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: And yet another chapter! Hope you enjoyed it! And don't worry, the suspense is soon over! But for now: stay tuned for the next chapter! And as always: thanks for the reviews!)_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Babe?"

"Ric?" I whispered, waking up. I looked around, careful of my sore parts – which was about like my entire body. Frowning, I tried to remember and had the distinct feeling that it was not the first time I did this.

Oh yeah – there it was. Fight with Ric over a cucumber. Waking up alone in the desert. Sun burning my skin, scorching heat making my head pound. Ankle twisted. And then…

My frown deepened as I tried to remember what had happened then. But nothing specific came up. I think I remember to have waken up here before – wherever here was. But perhaps that had just been a dream.

Dreams.

I remembered quite some dreams – about Ric and Dad.

Ric!

God, he must be out of his mind with worry! I had no idea how much time had passed since we parted because of that damn fight but some voice was telling me that it had been days. Fuck. Ric went up the walls if I disappeared for half an hour, how must he be doing now?

Bad.

I'd better hurry to get back to him. And – I needed him no less. The need to see him, to hear his voice, to feel his arms around me... it was almost like physical pain. As if I didn't feel enough pain already!

I checked the small room I was in again. Ok, room was perhaps a bit of an exaggeration. It looked more as if I was – in a tent? Was that possible? Well, if it was a tent it sure was furnished pretty well. What I was laying on was more of a bed than the things we used when I went camping with my dad. Valerie never came along - it wasn't her thing. One time she tried it – it was a catastrophe and all of us had been unhappy when we came back. Not that I was much of a nature friend. Nope, I'm strictly a city girl. But it was fun, an adventure. A form of freedom because I could get away from the Burg and all the duties a good Burg girl should be able to perform with ease – like needling and cooking.

Besides, I loved to have my dad all for myself.

Dad.

He was certainly worried about me too. Mom of course as well – only that somehow it surely would be my fault in her eyes that I got myself kidnapped. And the frustrating thing this time was that it was probably true. If I wouldn't have stormed away like that after my fight with Ric I probably wouldn't have been outside the secure grounds of our home. I wouldn't have been running blindly along the street, muttering curses about my husband and I would have heard the van coming up beside me and could have evaded the arms pulling me into the darkness of that van. And if I wouldn't have been so surprised then I perhaps could have fought my way back out before I got the chloroform pressed over my nose and mouth.

That damn fight! But at least this one hadn't been my fault entirely. Sure, I may have been a bit – reluctant to see the things from Ric's eyes, but he sure as hell hadn't been reasonable about it either! He had that stubborn mind of his set and wouldn't give even an inch. And then… Argh!

To think that it all started with that fucking cucumber. Never in my life I'd let a cucumber come near me again!

I mean, here I was, my skin burned away, my head pounding – probably thanks to a heat stroke and every muscle ached. I was in the middle of a desert, probably the Sahara, far, far away from my home, my friends, my family, doughnuts, tasty cakes, Pino's, coffee and Ric.

It wasn't fair.

But the things happening unexplainable to me seldom were fair and I started to live with it. So I'd better find a way to get back home and back to my husband to tell him that I'm sorry – not that I'd agree with him just because of this mess, but I loved him and would never bear to be separated from him.

And the first step to get to that destination was to get up and find out where I was. So I slowly pushed myself up to sit on the edge of the bed. My vision swam and I waited until the tent around me stopped moving. Slowly and carefully I stood up – and cried out as I felt that my wobbly knees were absolutely not ready to support my weight, not to mention my hurt ankle. I fell down onto the bed which in return hurt the still sore burned skin. That black dots dancing behind my eyes again were just the icing on the cake.

Great.

Frustrated, I asked myself if I should try it again. But in the end I was pretty sure that it would only result in the same rush of pain like before.

Ok, scrap first step. What next? Call out for help? Perhaps. But was that wise? I had no idea who brought me here – even though I tried to be optimistic about it. After all he, her or they had helped me, treated my wounds, given me precious cover from that deadly sun. If they wanted to hurt me it would have been a bit much of trouble, right?

Well, I was about to find out. Some flap was lifted and light fell into the tent – and there stood two figures. Masked figures.

Damn. Just my luck.

* * *

"You wouldn't lie to me, right?" Frank asked Moknar threateningly.

"Of course I would, mon ami, but this time it's the truth. It's the place I've left her," Moknar said scornfully.

I looked back to him and then at the place around me and fought against my emotions. There was no trace of my Babe here. But that didn't have to mean something. The desert is in constant movement. Not to mention that sandstorm two days ago. It would be even likely to not find her…

Or…

Slowly I started to wander around a bit in circles that grew to the outside. The men watched me, but didn't say a word. After five minutes I stopped and looked back at Frank's dead eyes and simply shook my head. And even though I didn't think it possible his eyes died a bit more and a very hard line appeared around his mouth. I turned away. Since Moknar had told him about Steph… he had been – cold. Emotionless. But not the kind he was trained to be, but for real this time. Dead on the inside. Not that I couldn't understand that. I myself was so close to that edge too. Only this tiny spread of hope kept me from jumping over that last edge.

Looking down at the floor, I left my circles and walked West, away from the group. Once I was out of sight of them I stopped and looked into the distance. Slowly, I sank to the ground to sit into the sand and closed my eyes. In training we get taught a lot of preparation techniques. To get us ready for a mission. Or to take some short break in the middle of hell to turn inside to gather new strength. One of them was a form of mediation. It wasn't my preferred technique, but right now I felt as if it was the right one. So I closed my eyes and sank deep into myself, shutting out the sound of the voices drifting to me, the quiet noise of the desert, my loud pounding heart and the whizzing of my breath. After I reached that level I turned my entire focus onto Steph and the band I share with my wife and opened myself up. I let the soldier slip away, let the walls I had built up in the last few days since my wife's abduction fall down, let the emotions free reign even though I pushed away the overwhelming things I couldn't need right now like the grieve and guilt and hate and gut wrenching fear – and listened, felt around.

Somewhere out there was my Babe. Either her dead body and in that case I really hoped my sense would lead me to it – or she was still alive. Perhaps hurt. Most definitely hurt. Perhaps someone had found her, perhaps she was laying dying somewhere, unconscious, unprotected. But still alive. In either case I had to find her. I just had to.

At first I felt nothing. I let the minutes pass and just when I thought that this was futile and ridiculous of me to believe it would work I _felt_ it. I felt it with a power as if a truck rammed into me.

It was there.

She was there, my Babe.

The bond was back!

I could feel her again!

And she was alive...

I felt it with absolute certitude and I sacked in relief, tears burning my eyes. My wife wasn't dead.

"Gracias," I whispered sincerely, thanking the powers, Dios, Fate whoever for that vital gift.

Suddenly, I felt a hand touching my back. "Ricardo…"

Frank's voice made me look up, my eyes still glistening with the tears of ultimate joy. I wanted to tell him, but my throat wasn't able to get words out yet, so tight it was with relief.

"I… I know this is hard. She's… _was_…" Frank gulped and closed his eyes, letting his head hang down while his hand curled to a fist. "But… we can't find her. We'll come back, with the best equipment to find her… but right now we can't do anything more. We… we should go back," he said, pressed.

Realizing, I shook my head. "No! I need to go after her. She's…"

"Please, son, don't make it any harder than it already is. I know you loved her. And despite what I said back in Trenton I know this wasn't your fault. It was mine and mine alone and she… had to pay the prize. My kitten… and you of course," Frank said with difficulty.

"No! Frank, Steph's…" I tried to tell him again.

"You know, she really loved you. I could see it in her eyes. And I know… Look, I know what you think you've got to do. But my Kitten wouldn't want that. I understand if right now you believe you can't go on, by God I feel the same, but… we can't do that, you know. She'd hate us to throw our lives away like that and…" he paused and shook his head. "We can help each other – to find the strength to go on. And right now we need – we need to let go, Ric."

I frowned. "Frank, I'm trying to tell you…"

"We'll come back to find her and bring her home to where she belongs of course. I can't leave my Kitten all alone out here. But…" Frank insisted.

"Dammit Frank, will you listen to me?" I yelled, shoving of his hand still on my back and jumped up. "I'm trying to tell you that she's alive!"

For a long moment, Frank stared at me before he closed his eyes with a painful expression. He shook his head. "Don't do this, Ricardo, don't…"

"Get false hope, yeah, but I don't. It's true. She's alive. I can feel it. I can feel _her,_" I told him with insistence.

"Of course you do. You don't want to accept that your wife is dead, that is only natural. So you make yourself believe that…" Frank sighed mournfully.

"I'm not a rookie here, Frank. I've been trained to use my instinct and trust on it. I know what is real and what is wish thinking," I protested. "Steph's alive, trust me."

But Frank shook his head. "Ric…"

"Then just open up and feel for it! Reach out with your senses and you'll know it too!" I tried to further convince him.

But again Frank just shook his head. Great. Here I finally knew with certainty that my Babe wasn't dead – and he didn't believe me. But I didn't have the time to fight with him now. Steph was alive, yeah – but that didn't mean she was safe. I needed to find her, get to her – as fast as possible. So I just shook my head in frustration and headed back to the others guarding Moknar at the helicopter.

Tank watched me warily as I walked past him to the chopper to get my backpack. Just in case I had prepared one to take with me, should I find a reason to stay in the desert and go looking for her. I lifted it out and quickly checked a last time for water, glasses, emergency kit and my portable GPS. Finding all in order I grabbed the small tent I brought along as well and secured it on the top of the backpack.

"Ric? What are you doing?" Tank asked hesitantly.

"Going after my wife," I told him shortly.

"Ric…" Tank started, but I stopped him. "She's alive."

"What?! No Ric… don't do that to yourself." Tank said pleadingly, stepping closer to put a hand on my shoulder. "Look, I know you don't want it to be true, but believe me, it's easier to face the truth right now than…"

I looked into his eyes. "Dave, if I believed that Steph's dead I would end it right here and now. But she _isn't_ and I know it. You and Frank and everyone else may believe what you want, but I know that she's alive, because I can feel it, feel her. And I also know that I can't afford to lose time fighting with you. Steph needs me right now. She's probably hurt, so time is essential."

Tank shook his head vehemently. "Ric, this isn't healthy. Just accept that…"

Great. Not only Frank, now Tank as well. Why did everyone believe that I was the gone mad husband not wanting to believe into his wife's death? Really, at least Tank should know me better and trust my instincts. And Frank raised Steph! How could he believe that she, always a fighter, would just sit around here and wait for death? I saw Frank heading towards us with a closed off expression and I sighed.

"Please, son…" he started, looking at the backpack and then back to me.

"Stop. Both of you. You're free to trust me and my instinct when I tell you that my wife is alive or not. But nothing you say or do can stop me from going after her," I told them.

"Ric, be reasonable. Even if she's really alive, which is highly unlikely, how do you want to find her? Moknar left her out here four days ago. There had been a sandstorm. All her traces are long gone by now," Tank tried to reason.

As if I didn't know how difficult it would be. But now I had a small advantage. "I'll just follow my instinct. It will bring me to her," I said confidently. Perhaps a bit more sure of it than I really believed it myself – but they didn't need to know that.

"Great. And even if you're on the right track she's four days ahead. You want to just walk after her? You'll never reach her in time, supposedly your hunch is right," Frank argumented.

"Of course not!" I snapped and turned to Tank. "I've got my GPS with me. You fly back and get me a desert cruiser to my position. Draw a circle of, let's say 50 miles around this place. The other teams shall start a search from the outside in. One of you contact the government and get me the satellites picture of the last four days. The secret kind, you know what I mean. Then find a local who knows his way around this part of the Sahara. Maybe someone found her. In that case I need to know where they would have brought her to and he or someone whom those people may trust shall bring Lester to them," I instructed.

"Ric, that's crazy!" Tank said.

I glanced at him. "This is Steph. Of course it's crazy. Fortunately I'm the boss here so I guess you just have to do what I order you. Now move it. You're losing precious time."

"If you think that I will leave you out here all alone without backup you've really gone completely mad." Tank growled with a glare.

"You're not equipped," I told him.

He just shrugged. "I've got the most necessary. The rest they can bring me with the cruiser. I'll manage until then." He looked at me and there was suddenly something desperate in his eyes. "I already lost my sister. I won't lose my brother too," he stated quietly.

I sighed. "That's the point. You haven't lost her, Dave."

Tank just turned his head away.

"I'm coming with you as well," Frank said in that moment.

Surprised, I looked over to him.

"Don't look at me like that, kid. She's my daughter after all. The least I owe her is to make sure the man she loves doesn't kill himself," Frank told me hardly and turned to Rover to organize our trip.

With a sigh I looked back at Tank. "Tell Bobby the instructions. He has to get to Tamanrasset to supervise the search from there." He gave a short nod and moved to the radio in the plane.

Good. Now there was only one thing left to do before I could finally go after my wife. I walked over to Moknar, who sat in the sand, having followed my fight with Tank and Frank. He laughed up into my face. "You really believe your wife is still alive? That weak woman? Tu rêves, mon jeune ami!"

I just looked him into his eyes. Slowly, his laughter died down and gave way to a frown. "Quoi?"

I continued to just stare coldly at him, to let him see in my eyes exactly _what _I thought – and what I was about to do. What he had put me through. What he had done to my Babe. And how he would pay for that. Satisfied I watched as sweat started to pearl on his forefront and fear crept into his eyes until they were wide with terror. He gulped and moved uncomfortably. But I didn't let him break eye contact but willed him to maintain it – until I was sure he got the message: only then I let him go. He sacked with a sigh of relief.

I smiled. "Au revoir, trou de cou."

Panicked, his head shot up again to stare at me, the white of his eyes showing. I ignored it while my right arm shot forward and I slit his throat open. His eyes glazed over and he fell sideward to lay moaning on the ground, blood seeping slowly into the sand. I hadn't cut deep enough for him to be dead instantly. But deep enough to guarantee that no doctor in this world could save him. It wasn't quite the slow, painful death he really deserved, but the best I could muster in the short time. My Babe was more important than my hunger for revenge. And it wasn't so bad, he'd lay here alone, like my Babe had been, his blood seeping out of him, unable to scream for help or say anything at all, and it would take about, oh, I think three to four hours. And once he was dead his body could slowly dry out – or get ripped apart by some carrion eaters. No one would know where he was and no one would be able to bury him – just like he wanted my Babe to end.

No one hurt my wife without paying the price.

Satisfied, I turned around to face the others and saw that they had watched the execution silently. I met Frank's eyes and he nodded. I nodded back with a small serious smile and checked on Tank and Rover. In their eyes shone only satisfaction – and approval. Not that I had expected otherwise. But it was good to know for certain that this kill wouldn't cause me any problems. Officially the report would say that it was necessary to kill the target. Which wouldn't be untrue. Moknar had proved that he was able to get out of prison and then take deadly actions against the agents involved in his capture and probably also his former actions against the UN and the USA. Besides, Moknar had been on the list of people whose kill on sight was approved of before he had supposedly died. And just like then, the only way to ensure everyone's safety was to take him out. Simple as that. And for what he had done and intended to do to my Babe he deserved to suffer as much as I could make him until the end.

Without a look back I went over to my backpack and slang it onto my back. Fastening the stripes I looked at Frank and Tank, who both had gotten a small bag with the most necessary thing as well. "Ready?" I asked.

Two nods.

With a nod from myself as well I turned West again, my instinct pulling me into that direction, and started walking, Tank and Frank falling into step slightly behind me.

'Hold on Babe. I'm coming to get you,' I silently sent out to her, hoping she could feel me coming for her.

_Translations:_

_Tu rêves, mon jeune ami! – You're dreaming, my young friend._

_Quoi? – What?_

_Au revoir, trou de cou. – Bye, asshole._

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: You didn't actually believe that I was going to kill Steph, did you? I would never... Oh well, I guess I would, but not in a story like this one! Stay tuned for a couple more chapters and I hope you enjoyed this one!)_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

My heart stopped before it started to beat wildly again. Quickly, I looked around for any kind of weapon – or at least something that I could use to defend myself. Of course I found nothing. I glanced back at the two masked figures, bracing myself. Well, then I just had to fight with what I had. My hands and the training Ric and the Merry Men have given me the past two years. I knew my chances were pretty much nonexistent – I mean I couldn't even stand or move without having black dots dancing in front of my eyes. But I'd be damned to go down without a fight.

The two men stepped inside and let the flap fall close behind them and I blanched by sudden images of them raping me here in the dim light of the tent. Still, I gulped my fear down and looked at them, bracing myself for what was to come, hoping I wasn't looking as scared as I felt. Surprisingly though the two didn't attack me. What were they waiting for? After another minute passed I squinted my eyes at them, now better able to see them after the light blinding me from the opening was gone and I got readjusted to the dim light in here. The two men didn't look like they would rape me any moment now. In fact, they looked like they were waiting – but for what? And why would they be masked if they didn't want to hurt me? I looked at the masks again, frowning.

Hmm. Actually, these didn't look so much like masks. I should know. I guess it's safe to say that after the years as a bounty hunter I was an expert on masks. No, they looked more like – veils.

My eyes widened and I looked around the tent again. Let's see: Sahara. Well furnished tent. Men with veils and – my eyes slid to the hilt of a sword on their backs – swords. One of my favorite authors as a child had been Frederica de Cesco. So it finally clicked. Tuaregs. Or some other nomad people of the desert. Though I thought they had died out. Well, apparently not. Now, I just had to find a way to communicate with these men and find out on which side they were. I hoped to God they were on mine.

"Hey," I said, giving them a bright smile.

Either they were deaf or ignoring me. I bet they weren't deaf. "Do you speak English?" I tried again, to no avail.

I cracked my brain to try to remember what de Cesco had written about their men, if they generally ignored strangers addressing them. Or perhaps only women? Maybe they were in some way like these clowns before the Buckingham Palace and weren't allowed to acknowledge that they were breathing, let alone that someone was speaking to them.

Hmm. In either case, how the hell was I supposed to get some information out of them? Like where I could find someone who I was able to speak to? Or where I was? Or why I was here and what they wanted to do with me now? If I remember correctly and de Cesco hadn't lied they weren't cannibals so I was pretty sure I would not end in some boiling can. But most important I needed to find a phone to let Ric know that I was alive. And I needed to hear his voice.

Fighting back the sudden sting in my eyes I looked back to the two men. "Look, if you can't talk to me fine. But can't you bring someone in here who can? And if that person speaks English all the better. Just please, help me in some way here."

As if an answer to my pleading the flap was thrown back again and a whirlwind in blue veil like clothes whirled in and stopped right in front of me. It was a woman and she didn't wear a veil to conceal her face. I guessed her around the age of my mother, some of her black hair already showing a tendency to grey and wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. And she smiled! I let out a relieved sigh. Finally some good sign.

She started to talk quickly in a foreign language. Damn! Never be happy too fast! At my frustrated sigh she stopped her flow and looked with a cocked head at me. After a moment she spoke again, in a different language and slower this time. I still saw black at my chance to communicate with her, but at least I recognized the language this time. French. Ugh. I hated French back in school! Frowning, I tried to remember what I needed to say. I shook my head. "Pardon, mais… je ne… comprend pas. Je… suis Américaine. USA. English," I said, hoping to make her understand.

Again she interrupted herself and looked at me. "I fear… my English is a bit rusty."

Delighted I smiled at her. YES! "Don't worry. Sounds good enough for me. I'm Stephanie. Stephanie Manoso," I said slowly, holding out my hand.

She looked at it for a moment before she took the hand with a smile. "I'm Andais." Then she frowned. "You should not try to get up. The sun hurt you much. Hurt ankle. Concussion. You need to lie some more days."

Well, she won't hear a protest as soon as I had a chance to contact Ric. "Thank you, Andais, but it's ok for right now. I need to know a few things. What day it is, how did I come here, oh, and I really need a phone."

Andais frowned at my words, concentrated. Guess I was a little too fast. Finally she shook her head. "No phones here. Our scouts found you in the desert, three days ago. Nearly dead. They brought you here, to me. I'm a doctor. I nursed you. Wasn't sure you'd make it. High fever."

I remembered the feeling of burning and freezing, remembered my strange dreams about Ric and Dad, Ric calling for me, Dad ordering me to hold on. Probably that had been the fever.

"Thank you, Andais and your people, for saving my life. I am very grateful for that," I said earnestly.

She nodded, accepting my thanks.

I tried to think, though the pounding in my head started to increase again. Soon, I really would have to lie down again. So I needed to hurry with finding a way to contact Ric. She had said they didn't have a phone. But perhaps we weren't so far away from one?

Holding up my hand I pointed to the rings Ric had given me. "I'm married. My husband must be out of his mind with fear by now. Please, Andais, I need to let him know that I'm ok. Isn't there a phone nearby to where one of you could bring me? Or perhaps there is someone you know who could let my husband know? Please," I pleaded.

Andais sighed. "I fear not, my child. You must understand. This tribe is one of the last. Our way to live is forbidden for a long time now. Still, we fight to live like our people have since the beginning of time. We are few, we are searched, hunted. It is too much of a risk to go near the border of the desert, near a town," she sighed. "When you are well enough, one of us can bring you near the next town, close enough that you will find your way there safely. But I fear, until then, we can't help you."

My face fell and I could feel tears pooling in the corner of my eyes. I looked away. Sure, I understood their reasons, but… Ric was hurting so much, I could feel it. "How long?" I asked with a croaked voice.

"Two more days certainly. Better a few days more. Depends on how much you heal," Andais answered.

Two or more days? No! I couldn't do this to Ric! There had to be another way! There just had to!

Andais gently put a hand on my cheek, turning my face back to look at hers. She wiped away one of my tears that had escaped my eyes. "I understand your worry for your loved one. Your pain. Your impatience. But trust in the bond you share with your mate. His name is Ric, isn't it?"

I felt my eyes widen and I nodded, unable to speak.

She smiled. "You said his name a few times while the fever raged in your body. It is obvious you share a deep bond. Trust it. He will know you are alive."

I stared into her dark eyes and swallowed in a big gulp. "I'll try," I whispered with a weak smile.

"You're exhausted. Lie down, sleep. The more rest you get the faster you will heal and can go back to your Ric," Andais told me gently but sternly and pressed me to lie back.

Exhaustion griped me, and before I knew it I was asleep.

* * *

It took them about four hours until a bigger chopper returned with the cruiser and more provisions. I had held my course towards West, the pulling into that direction getting stronger with each step. I just knew that my Babe was somewhere there in the West.

We hadn't talked much and I was perfectly aware of the constant sad glances Tank and Frank gave me. Clearly, they thought I had gone over the edge in my sorrow. And if my Babe really was dead, they probably would be right. But then again, I wouldn't be here with them in that case, already long gone. Anyway, it didn't matter. My Babe was alive and I was getting closer to her, I felt it. They could think what they wanted. Once I had reached Steph they'd knew the truth anyway. I just felt sad for Frank. It was unimaginable what he had to feel right now, believing that Steph, his child and clearly the true child of his heart on top of that, was dead. I knew what I felt whenever my daughter was in danger and I hadn't had this close relationship with her like Steph had with my father in law. But I had tried to tell him, had done it several times, and still he preferred to doubt me.

It was only hours later until we finally stopped to rest for the night. I thrived to go on, but finally gave in to Frank and Tank who insisted on a rest. And the rational part of me knew they were right. It had gotten too dark, the risk to miss something too great. Not to mention that after this day we each could need some sleep – that is if someone of us actually managed to sleep. I doubted it. I myself was too eager to get to my wife. Frank was too lost in his pain and I was pretty sure he would do nothing more than rest a bit, not willing to risk the chance of a nightmare with us around. And nightmares he will have, that I was certain of. I knew I'll have them. That left Tank. Tank was disciplined enough to perhaps find some sleep. After all he didn't carry any guilt in this affair, wasn't in any way responsible for Steph's abduction. But he did love her and I knew he loved me, like I knew that he probably would lack sleep because he felt like he had to watch over me – and Frank. To make sure we wouldn't try something to end our pain.

Still, a bit rest would serve us all good. We made fire, rolled out our sleeping bags and ate some sandwiches, each of us lost in his own thoughts. Frank held himself a bit away from the rest of us. We let him, though I kept an eye on him. My Babe would never forgive me if something happened to her dad. Like expected Tank had offered to take on the first watch. We let him and too restless to just sit around I soon turned in for the night, fully expecting to have a long night ahead of me.

I was wrong. Within minutes exhaustion overwhelmed me and I was sleeping deeply. And dreaming.

"_Ric?"_

_My heart pounding, I look up, look around me, not daring to hope. "Babe?" I ask, uncertainly, not sure if I'm just hearing what I so desperately want to hear._

"_Ric!" _

_There it is again, the voice of my Babe. But I can't see her._

"_Ric, I can't see you! Where are you? Please, Ric, don't leave me alone."_

_Her voice is so forlorn, there is so much loneliness in it that it tears my heart apart. "Oh, Babe, I'm here. I'm coming, I'm near, Babe." I assure her, desperate to make her pain go away._

_She sobs._

_Never able to stand that sound I break out into a run. "No, no, no, Babe, no. I'm here. You're not alone. Never."_

"_S… sorry. I can't help it." _

"_It's ok. Babe, where are you? Tell me where you are so I can come faster to you," I plead to know._

"_I don't know. Somewhere. Anywhere." _

_A frustrated curse escapes me. _

_She giggles. "I doubt that's going to help." _

_I give her no answer, but I smile. Suddenly I feel the world around me shift, get blurry._

"_Ric, what's going on?" _

_She's scared again. So am I. What if I lose her again? Still, she needs me to be confident now so I search for words to calm her._

_But before I find them the world around me starts to manifest itself again and suddenly she's there, standing with her back to me, staring into a looming darkness in front of her._

_My heart stops._

_My breath stops. _

_For a moment as long as eternity, I'm unable to do anything but drink in her beauty, the peace her presence gives me. Then, with a rush, the world's coming down back to me and I fly to her, ripping her into my arms, to never let go of her again. _

"_Babe," I moan, my voice hoarse with emotion. With relief. With love._

_I hold her, pressed against me so I can hear the reassuring beat of her heart, feel the heavenly touch of her breath. This is where I belong._

_Something's happening around us, but I ignore it. I just hold on to my Babe, keeping my wife safe where she belongs: In my arms._

_Time slips._

_We're not standing anymore, but lying on a beach. My private beach in Cuba as I realize. And we're naked. We're one. Steph's enthralled in passion, her back bowed back, her eyes closed, her lips parted slightly. Dios, she's always beautiful, but like this… never is she as radiating with beauty and love as when she's like this, lost in her passion, passion I bring her, rendering herself completely and trustfully to me and with that, making me hers and hers alone, losing myself in her, drunken with love and desperate with need._

_Which reminds me painfully of my hardness, already deeply buried inside my heaven. I need to move, I need to get deeper, need to plunge, need to start the dance to the rhythm or our heart, our craving for each other or I explode. But it is a welcome pain, one I could die for. A moment longer will be meaningless. The need to taste her, to make our melting truly complete is stronger. I lean down, take her lips with my own, let our tongues meet, feel our souls entwining, our hearts meeting in beats, becoming one._

_Her eyes flew open, her blue depths drinking me in for the beat of a moment before closing in bliss again, mine following her. Without knowing I have started to move, started to bring us to the perfect moment of existing. What we live for, what we search for all our life. I've found it, finding it each time we make love, each time revealing more realms of happiness I once thought are not possible. Not for me._

_I don't know how long it takes us to come to the climax, giving us sweet release. I never know. If it's fast or tormenting slow, it always feels like eternity to me. We meet for a last time and I feel my release, pouring my seed deep in her. I collapse on top of her, spent, not believing that I'll ever be able to move again. Still, my arms enclose her and I turn us around, so she's resting on me, never losing my hold of her. _

_Never will I make that mistake again. The pain of her being away from me is still raw. The pain of the faint thought of having lost her will stay with me forever. I know that, I accept that – I want it like that. No other way._

"_You're crying. Don't. I'm here. I'm safe. Always."_

_Her whispered words open my eyes to gaze into hers, misty with tears and I smile. "I know. I love you, mi corazòn."_

_Her smile makes even the sun look dull. "As I love you, cariño."_

"Ric!"

"Ric!! Wake up for heaven's sake!"

I didn't want to. Who wants to leave a dream like that?

"Shit, Ric, we could hiss a flag on that hard on of yours. Get up and take care of that before Frank wakes up and sees it."

Especially not being torn away with such a wake-up call.

"Fuck you," I murmured.

"Sorry, as much as I love you, you're too man for me. Now finally get into gear. Or Icewolf will rip into you and you can say your dick goodbye."

Groaning, I sat up and glared at my former best friend. "Now that was just rude."

Tank grinned. "Just the truth man. Or how do you think your father in law will take this?" He asked, waving at the area in question.

Well, thinking about it… I rolled around and got up, grabbed my things and walked stiffly away, Tank's booming laughter following me. He was so going to die for that.

When I came back to the camp, having taking care of my needs, I had also had time to clear my head from my dream and think. So I looked inquiringly at Tank who was making us some coffee, the sweet aroma of it already starting to fill the air and frowned. "How come you're so happy?" I asked, slightly offended. Yesterday, he mourned for Steph and today he was his obnoxious happy self?

Something didn't clasp here. He would never bother me with his dirty humor if he'd still believe that Steph was really dead and I was now losing it over her death. So what had happened to bring this on?

He looked up and his eyes actually shone with happiness. "Lester radioed in at daybreak. He said he found someone who met someone who met another someone who crossed a group of Kel Rela two days ago, their healer nursing a white woman they've found badly hurt in the desert back to health. They claimed she had curly brown hair," he reported with a big, happy grin. "You were right. You really were right. Steph's alive."

Relief rushed over me and I felt my knees give away under me. Sinking to the ground, I closed my eyes and pressed my hands onto my wildly beating heart.

"Shit, Ric, what's wrong?" Tank called out panicked.

I shook my head. Sure, I had felt Steph, felt that my Babe was alive. And this intense dream had washed away the last doubts. Still, to have it confirmed… to hear it out loud… no words could describe how light and relieved and happy that made me feel.

"I'm sorry, I thought…" Tank said desperately, his hands griping my shoulder.

Again I shook my head. "Gracias. Gracias, Dios, gracias," I whispered over and over again.

Tank slipped his arms around me and silently held me while the relief completely overwhelmed me, causing me to break down completely. But in a good way. Thanks to God in the best way a man can break down at all.

Simply holding me, Tank waited until I put myself together again. More or less. I had no idea how long it had taken until I finally raised my face towards him, fully aware that it was wet with my tears of joy and relief and not caring one bit about it, to give him a cocky grin. "Told you so," I told him self assuredly.

Shaking his head, he let me out of his brotherly embrace and stood up. "And you'll never let me forget that one, huh?"

I shrugged. "You can always dream."

"Well, even the bests can be wrong sometime. And just for the record: I was never more relieved to be wrong than now."

Collecting myself I stood up and nodded, wiping my face clean. "So am I," I said quietly and earnestly. Then I frowned. "How badly hurt is she?" I asked worriedly.

Tank sighed and shook his head. "Don't know. But Lester's source said that the healer was optimistic."

Whatever that meant. It was likely that she suffered at least a sun stroke, probably though a heat stroke. And a bad burn if not a heat rash. None of these were to taken lightly. To the contrary, very seriously as these injuries had already killed many people. Fact was that we needed to get to my Babe and get her into a hospital and fast.

But… "I think she's going to be all right," I said quietly.

Looking intensely at me Tank frowned. "That telling your instinct again?"

Slowly I nodded, looking West.

"Then it will be like you say. I'm not stupid enough to doubt that one ever again," Tank said lightly, calming my worries a bit.

I nodded. "You better." With a sigh I tore my eyes away from the West and looked over to Frank who was still sleeping. "He'll be thrilled to hear the happy news," I said.

Tank nodded, back looking after the coffee.

I frowned. "I'm actually surprised he managed to sleep at all. And now he's not waking up to hear that Steph's alive."

"Actually, he didn't," Tank commented dryly.

Turning back to him, I raised an eyebrow. He shrugged. "I slipped him something."

I felt my eyes widen and I looked back to Frank, then at Tank again. "I think you can consider yourself lucky that he wasn't quite himself last night. In fact I would go far, far away the second he begins to stir," I advised him, meaning every word.

"I'm ready to take off at any time. And I'm wearing the vest," Tank solemnly told me.

"Good. You'll need it. Can be any minute now," I said with a last glance towards Frank. "Do we have a location on Steph?" I asked, turning back to business.

Tank shook his head. "Not yet. Lester's on it, as well as the guys on the satellite. Shouldn't take too much longer. I figured we best wait here until we get the coordinates."

My eyes were drawn back West again. "No. As soon as Frank's up we leave," I decided.

I didn't need the coordinates. I knew my Babe was close. And I needed to take my wife into my arms, kiss her and apologize for being such a dickhead and tell her how sorry I was about our fight. I simply needed her. Always would.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: Well, well, well - hope you liked this one. Had to change the rating, I think that dream wasn't quite K , huh? Anyway, there's not much left, so stay tuned for the next chapter and yes - they will finally come together again. I think it's safe to spill that secret now. Thanks for the reviews and until soon!)_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

My eyes flew open and I stared at the walls of the tent above my head, breathing hard.

What was_ that_?

I had a dream, one of the most strangest, surreal dreams I ever had. And one of the most beautiful ones. The rapture I had felt was still tingling in my body and it was really hot in the tent – and not because of the sun.

"Ric…" I whispered, not really knowing why, just feeling the need to say his name.

My heart pounding, I closed my eyes, trying to figure out what had just happened. Ric always told me that he could feel me, even when he was far, far away from me. And even though I could feel him ahead of approaching me as well, I always thought that he exaggerated. But lately – on the last mission he had to go away for there had been this feeling, like I knew that he was ok and coming back to me. And now… it was crazy, but I just knew that Ric was near somewhere, coming for me. I had no idea how he wanted to achieve that, I mean, this was the Sahara - the desert that was nearly as big as half the continent. Oh well, I guess now I was exaggerating a bit, but only a tad bit. How should he know I was here in the first place?

Unless of course whoever brought me here told him. But… I doubted it somehow. Not that I had even the slightest idea whom I'll have to thank for to have landed here in the desert once I was back. If he was still breathing that is. With Ranger you just never know. He's not a murderer but I'm fairly aware that he has killed people – and probably will kill more. In the beginning I really had a hard time to accept this. But then I already had to kill in order to safe my life myself and the longer I was a bounty hunter and even more important the closer I got to Ranger I started to realize that he didn't kill lightly and only when it was the last resort. If it was clear that only death would stop the madness or danger or whatever. And before I knew it I had accepted this as a part of his life and therefore a part of my life. I didn't necessarily like that part, but I dealt with it.

So chances were good that whoever was behind my little trip and the attempt to let me die such a horrible death wasn't alive anymore. If Ric had found the bastard of course. But I had few doubts about that. I was married to Batman after all. And then I perhaps would find out why I was where I now was. At least I hoped so, because I really hated to be in the dark about that.

But first I needed to apologize to Ric for my behavior. I knew I shouldn't have lost my temper like this and even more I should have never left the house like I had, without the slightest protection, without being 'aware of my surroundings', to quote one of Ric's favorite instructions. Then neither of us would have gone through this hell. Because I knew without doubt that Ric had been through hell during these past days. And then, much later, we'd need to talk about the reasons of the fight, but not in a screaming match like we had done, but in a reasonable manner like we should have done it in the first place. I hadn't changed my mind, this I probably never would, but I'd need to listen to Ric's reasons for his standpoint so I could find a way to cooperate with him – or making him see the light of my wisdom. Like I've done it if that damn cucumber hadn't come inbetween and had ruined it all.

Light fell into the tent and I looked up to see Andais entering. I smiled at her and waited for the men to reappear as well. But she was alone. "No watch dogs today?" I asked curiously.

For a moment she regarded me with a blank look before a small smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. "They have come to the conviction that you are no harm to me. I fear they are sometimes a bit overprotective of my safety."

Now, that was a situation I only knew too well. "Oh, believe me, I know how that is. My husband and his men aren't any different. But I'm sure they are right with being protective."

She shrugged. "I am one of the few doctors they trust, yes. But for them to get hurt in order to protect me seems to contradict the point."

I smiled. "Not necessarily as you'll be there to heal the guard. Without you there won't be anyone. Besides, they're just men."

Her eyes shining with amusement, Andais laughed. "Indeed."

We both smiled that secret smile we women have.

"My husband is on his way," I said suddenly before I really knew what I was saying. Still, I knew it was true.

Andais raised an eyebrow, still smiling though. "Is he indeed?"

I nodded, blushing. "At least I think so. I…" I hesitated, not wanting to sound crazy. "I feel him coming," I whispered, feeling really idiotic.

But all Andais did was nodding. "That is good. You will heal faster with him at your side. I will inform the guards of his coming."

Dumbfounded I gawked at her. "Just like that?" I asked, stunned.

She nodded seriously. "I can feel that you share a deep bond with someone. Can see that your soul is mated. It is not unusual for a mated couple to sense each other, even if wide apart."

I stared at her openmouthed, unable to find words through my thunderstricken amazement at her words. She seemed to know this as well as she just left with a last knowing smile my way.

* * *

When Frank's deep breathing stopped abruptly and his eyes flew open I stood up, my hand creeping closer to my gun. I wished I'd had thought of bringing along a dart gun. After my last fight with Steph I really wasn't eager to get into another one for shooting her father in order to safe Tank's life. Because I truly had no idea how Frank would react. I was pretty certain that he wouldn't kill Tank because Frank probably would understand why Tank had done it. But I've seen the true colors of Icewolf now and I knew how _I_ would react to such a stunt of Tank. And right now we had my Babe to save and not the time for petty revenge games.

There was enough time for that later, once we got Steph to an hospital.

I checked on Tank who was standing twenty feet away, the cruiser between him and Frank.

Slowly, Frank sat up with a frown. He looked at me and then over at Tank, his eyes hardening. "You took me out," he stated dangerously low, his eyes turning to slits. No, my father in law definitely didn't like to be drugged.

Tank, paling a bit, took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes Sir. I apologize. But I believed it necessary."

"Hardly your decision," Frank icily said, slowly getting up, his eyes never leaving his prey.

Not especially eager to draw the wolf's intention onto me I stepped up to him anyway, steeling myself for a possible attack. The icy slits turned briefly to me. "You stay out of this, Manoso," he warned, returning his eyes to Tank and taking a step towards him.

I laid a hand on his arm, saying the only thing I hoped would take Frank's mind off his revenge. "Lester radioed it. They've found Stephanie."

Frank stopped, thunderstruck, and I heard a small gasp. He swirled around to me, his eyes having lost the frost but shining with hope now. "What?"

"She's alive, Frank. A group of Kel Rela found her, took her in, saved her life. Are still nursing her," I told him, masking neither my joy nor my relief, nor my worry, hoping he'd see the truth now. "She's not that far from here anymore. She's safe."

For a few seconds Frank just stared at me, his chest heaving with the deep breaths he took. "This information is valid?" he asked, his voice rough.

I nodded, waited.

For a moment longer, Frank just stared at me. Then he closed his eyes and turned away, his head dropping, his hands fisting. Silently, Tank and I waited, giving him whatever time he needed. Finally, a few minutes had passed, Frank straightened and turn back to us again, his face calm, his eyes their normal blue again. And that light that had vanished yesterday out of them was back, shining brighter than ever. I breathed out and gave him a small smile.

"She's hurt," Frank stated.

I nodded again. "We don't know the details, but yeah. Apparently though a healer is with the group and looking after her, surely Steph will be all right."

"That's good. She still needs to get to a hospital though," Frank nodded.

"I've arranger for a helicopter to come get us, as soon as we have the exact coordinates," I agreed.

Frank frowned. "We don't have them?"

"No," I said calmly.

He raised an eyebrow. "You've said she's not far from here. How would you know that then?"

"The same way I knew she's alive," I simply answered, looking him directly into the eyes.

Frank searched my eyes. Finally he sighed and shook his head. "I knew there was something between you and my daughter the first time she brought you home. But I must admit that I failed to see how profound it has gotten. I underestimated your bond to her and didn't believe you. Didn't dare to. I am sorry for that."

Surprised at his words I shook my head. "You don't have to. I doubt that I would have reacted differently in your place."

"I'll trust your instincts from now on," Frank just said, then sighed. "Too bad. I fear I've just gotten around to kill you for losing my daughter. With that bond she'd just hurt too much," He said disappointedly.

I only hesitated a moment before I smiled. "Bad luck."

His eyes sparkled, reminding me very much of his daughter's eyes. "Looks like." He gave me a slap on my back, for the first time ever in a fatherly way that made me feel finally accepted by him as his son for once and for all. This simple gesture had my throat closing with tightness. Luckily for me Frank ignored my reaction and turned to Tank. "You can be lucky that we don't have the time for me to teach you a lesson for drugging me. My daughter's welfare is more important right now. But be sure we'll have a little talk about it later, Forrester."

Why was I not surprised that Frank knew Tank's real name? Shaking my head I looked over to Tank to see how he took this news. He had blanched, but seemed at the same time relieved. Frank would give him hell for that one later, but he'd probably live.

"Yes Sir," Tank slowly said.

Frank nodded. "Congratulations by the way."

Tank blinked. "Sir?"

"There are only very few people who ever managed to get the better of me. And only one other man who ever managed to drug me," Frank casually told us while he started to get his things together.

At that Tank visible perked up. "Oh," he muttered, darting a glance towards me. I shrugged and started to gather the rest of stuff together as well.

Straightening up again Frank walked with his arms full over to the cruiser to stash the things away. Tank didn't move, but I noticed that he started to sweat a little. After Frank was done he looked up, meeting Tank's eyes. "But for what it is worth: Thank you."

Tank's eyes widened and he stared at Frank with surprise. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Hehe. Tank rendered speechless. Now that was something. Lester and Bobby would hate that they had missed that.

Frank turned his back to Tank. "But don't think I won't still give you that lesson." He called over his shoulder. But he winked at me.

One glance at Tank's paling face and I quickly bent to gather up some more things to hide my grin. Oh yeah, Tank would definitely live. And I thought me and the other guys will really enjoy that lesson.

But now, we had to get to my Babe.

* * *

Perhaps half a day later I felt it. That prickling that starts at my neck and spreads out from there. I've had that since I knew Ric and I was pretty certain that I would never lose this prickling again. I didn't want to.

So I knew that Ric was coming before the guards even made him out at the horizon. Actually it was a surprisingly long time between the first prickles and the time the guards of the camp were starting to shout that someone was coming. At least I thought that was what they were shouting. I didn't have a watch with me anymore but I think there was about an hour in between. Surely longer than ever before. Wasn't it strange that only this terrible experience of being ripped away from each other expanded my sense of him and not the year of living with him, the months of being married to him? Or perhaps it had been there already and I just hadn't noticed it before?

Not that it was important right now. I wished I could get up to go fling myself into Ric's arms like they are doing it in movies and books. But Andais had strictly forbidden me to get up. And after another try this morning I wasn't protesting anymore. It hadn't gone much better than my try yesterday, I only was able to stand perhaps a few seconds later. But she had allowed me to sit up and that was exactly what I was doing after the warning shouts of the guards. If I couldn't come running into his arms I could at least lesson his worries right away by greeting him as upright as I was able to, beaming at him. Yeah, that would reassure him that I was ok more than any words from me or Andais could do.

Soon, I heard a motor approaching. A car. Ric. My heart started to pound at the same time that it lifted, knowing that he was so close no. Butterflies were dancing in my stomach. One could think that after being together with him for so long now they would have stopped dancing a long time ago. But no. It didn't matter if we were only apart a few minutes or such a long time like now – my reaction to him never lessoned. More to the contrary: it got stronger, more intense, the more I was with him.

I heard voices, negatives one from the Tuaregs, pleading ones. There were a lot voices, but only one mattered to me, I heard only this one. It seemed to me like ages since I last heard the golden tenor of his voice, the short sentences he uses to talk to most people, the hidden emotions in it, you only were able to hear out when you knew him very well – and he let you hear them. Now, his voice washed like soft waved over me, lingering on my skin like a caress would. I could hear the need and worry in his voice, the love, the desperateness and my own need for him grew unbearable.

"Ric!" I called to him.

The voices stopped.

* * *

The closer we got to my Babe the greater grew my need. When I knew we could only be a few miles away from her I had to battle down my instinct to jump out of the cruiser and run the last distance to her. Only my sense of reason held me back. That and the knowledge that the car would still be faster. Otherwise…

We had expected to have trouble to get close to the camp, well aware that the remaining Tuaregs are proud, cautious and dangerous people. They fought for a way to live not accepted by the government and many of them would await prison or death if they got caught. It was unlikely that they welcomed a cruiser full of strangers nicely, especially when we all reeked of military. You can't hide what you are and we were soldiers. So when we finally reached the camp and had been able to drive to it's border without encountering one single interruption we were all surprised.

Carefully we got out of the cruiser, leaving most of the weapons behind, making clear that we meant them no harm but were simply here to get Steph. Frank led the way into the camp, with Tank and me flanking him. There we got the next surprise. A group of about twenty veiled people stood there, silent, their clothes slightly waving in the wind. It looked like they had been awaiting us. But how…

Of course. Steph. She must have felt me coming and had told them. That explained it. My Babe always knew when I was approaching her. She said everything would start to prickle and tingle. In the beginning I hadn't understood how she always knew I was there even before I made my presence known to her. It was – unusual. When she finally told me I first felt threatened, panicked. I didn't like that anyone had such a sense of me and at the same time I was confused, because I knew that this meant something important. And thrilled to know that I affected her in such a way, _me _and not the cop or anyone else. And it scared the hell out of me. Well, it was still that time where I didn't want to acknowledge that what I was feeling was love and that I was totally and completely head over heals in love with her – while she still was in that off and on again relationship with Morelli.

Now of course I loved this sense of her. How could I not?

"Bonjour. Nous ne souhaitons personne mal. Je suis Frank Plum, ça, c'est mon beau fils Ricardo Manoso et notre ami David Forrester. Nous cherchons ma fille. On nous a dit qu'elle est peut-être ici." Frank said politely, knowing that the chance was bigger that one of them spoke French than English. Actually, probably most of them knew at least some French. They may want to live in the desert like in the old times but nowadays it was impossible to avoid the Algerians completely. In fact, most children had to visit at least the basic school before they could go join their people should they want that.

Despite my wife's warning it seemed like they didn't want to just let us have such an easy way as they started to speak in their language in a very rejecting way. Normally, I would appreciate this, but right now all I wanted was my wife. I felt eyes on me and looked up to meet the dark eyes of a woman I thought. She stood a bit in the back and only had eyes for me. Now, that wasn't _that_ unusual but something told me that this woman wasn't admiring my looks.

Before I really knew it I spoke to her, sensing that she was the one that would lead me to my Babe. "Please. I know my wife is here. I can feel her. I appreciate you protecting her, really, but I need to see her, to finally be reunited with her. Please," I pleaded. I seldom do, seldom have to. But I'm not ashamed to do it now.

Her eyes were searching mine, not revealing if she understood or was inclined to help me get to Steph. She was wearing a veil like everyone. I held my breath and my eye contact with her.

Finally, she said something to a big man standing beside her and he looked at her, searching. My heart pounded louder and faster, sensing that she was giving us the green light.

_Yes._

In that moment though a shout pierced through the air.

"Ric!"

_Translation:_

_Bonjour. Nous ne souhaitons personne mal. Je suis Frank Plum, ça, c'est mon beau fils Ricardo Manoso et notre ami David Forrester. Nous cherchons ma fille. __On nous a dit qu'elle est peut-être ici. – _

_Hi. We wish no harm. I'm Frank Plum, this is my son in law Ricardo Manoso and our friend David Forrester. We're looking for my daughter. We were told that she's perhaps here._

* * *

After my cry, well, I guess it was more of a scream, there was an eerie silence outside for a moment. Then I heard steps rushing towards me. Finally! I turned my face to the flap and sure enough it already flew back, light flooding the tent, and the big, muscled figure of my…

Huh?

My face fell. That wasn't Ric! Why the hell wasn't it Ric?! I knew he was here, I've heard him for God's sake, so what was he waiting for?! In the moment these thoughts flew through my head another part of it suddenly registered whose figure that actually was and at that realization I felt tears springing to my eyes.

"Daddy!" I cried out and my arms were reaching out to him automatically.

In two big steps he was at my side, falling down to his knees and engulfed me in his big, strong arms. Sobbing, I buried my face into his chest. His hand stroked over my hair as he pressed me against him. It hurt a bit, my skin still raw, but right now I didn't care.

"Stephanie. Oh my God, Kitten, I'm so sorry," Dad whispered, his voice hoarse and cracking.

I had no idea what he meant, but I didn't care about it either. All I cared was that my Daddy was here. Sure, some distant part of me wondered how he came to be here and most of all why he was here. But the sight of him told me more than anything else, even more than Ric's presence, that it really was over now. It was just like back when I was a kid: I was safe when I was with my dad and when he came when something was wrong then all would be good again. Oh yeah, it was exactly like back then and I rubbed my cheek against his chest. The downside though was that his presence also made my waterworks opening the dams I had held down so adamantly these past days. But now they'd broken and I couldn't stop sobbing into his chest anymore.

Dad rocked me, making hushing noises, only interrupted sometimes by his stuttered apologizes.

My hold around him tightened. "I didn't give up, Daddy. I held on," I whispered.

He pressed a kiss on the top of my head. "I knew you wouldn't. I'm so proud of you, Kitten."

Another sob broke out of me.

"Shhh. It's over now. You're safe. No one will hurt you anymore, baby. I'm here. Ricardo's here. Even Tank. It's over," Dad whispered and eased his grip on me to lean back. His hands on my cheeks, he looked into my eyes so I'd see the truth in them. I nodded and sniffled. He smiled a little, but his eyes started to check me out, taking in the new, raw skin, searching my eyes for pain. "You're going to be all right," he finally stated.

I nodded.

Dad sighed. "I hope I haven't hurt you too much with my hug. I just…"

Vehemently, I shook my head. "I needed it as much as you, Dad." Then I frowned. "How come you're here?"

To my amazement a look of guilt shadowed his eyes and he sighed again, stroking my cheeks. "That, Kitten, is a very long story that can wait for a while longer," he said.

Okaaaay. What was going on here?

At my frown I heard someone snorting and immediately I sent a glare over to the entrance of the tent. I really loved Tank, really, but jeez, would he never give it a rest and stop making fun of me?

But once my eyes fell onto the two figures standing at the entrance I registered Tank perhaps for a flicker of a second before he faded away like everything and everyone else, until only _he_ existed anymore in my little world.

Ric.

He was standing there, his eyes drinking me in, eating me alive and when our eyes met I felt our hearts stop at the impact of our souls' joyfully rejoining.

His lips formed my name.

The next moment, our hearts started beating wildly with a rush, and suddenly I was in his arms. Finally! I had missed the feel of his arms around me so much, them holding me closely to him, sheltering me, loving me. "Oh God, Ric," I moaned, the power of my emotions too big to be able to find other words to express them all.

I didn't need to.

Instead of saying anything Ric just tightened his hold on me and kissed me. It was all it needed. He poured all the relief, the anguish at my taking, his rage and his sorrow into that kiss, but most of all, I could feel his love. I returned his kiss with no lesser passion, telling him with my kiss what I couldn't tell him with my words. His hands caressed my back, tenderly to not hurt me more, and this little lovingly gesture was the final straw for me. A sob wracked my body again so forcefully that I broke away from our kiss and I pressed myself into my husband, reveling in the peace his sole presence was giving me.

Letting out a tight sob himself his arms tightened again and it was my turn to hold him now. I stroked through his hair and held him as tight as I could. He buried his head in my neck, his salty tears slightly stinging my raw skin there. Still, I welcomed the small pain, reminding me that I was alive and home in the arms of my soulmate.

* * *

My Babe's scream for me broke all my restraints and I pushed through the people to get to the tent where the scream had come from. But just before I reached the entry I slowed down, the very tiny part that was still thinking reasonable clearly winning over my instinct. I was not the only one needing to hold her. Frank needed it too, probably as much as me.

Damn.

But I knew that once I had her back where she belonged - namely in my arms - I wouldn't release her again for a very long time, not even for Frank. I couldn't. Not after these days, not after believing, even if it was only for a relatively short time, that I had truly and once and for all lost her.

"Ric?"

"Ricardo?"

I looked at Frank and it was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. "Go," I told him hoarsely.

His eyes widened and he stared at me for a second. But then he nodded. "Thanks," he whispered and he was inside the tent.

"Daddy!" I heard her call out, surprised but utterly happy.

I closed my eyes, breathing hard, but I knew I had done the right thing. They both needed this moment for themselves right now. And my Babe wasn't going anywhere. I just had to wait for my turn.

"You ok?" Tank asked quietly, his hand squeezing my shoulder.

I just nodded and slowly entered the tent as well, Tank at my side, only to stop right in my tracks again, the impact of seeing her alive and breathing and in all her beauty striking me to an halt. I actually could barely see her, such engulfed she was in her father's arms. She sobbed into Frank's chest, who was rocking her soothingly, both clinging desperately to each other. It had to hurt Steph, though it seemed neither of them cared about it. The bit skin I could see was shining in an angry red and on some parts I could make out heat blisters. She would be in a lot of pain until her skin was renewed.

But she was alive, that was all that counted at the moment.

They whispered something to each other that I couldn't make out. Finally, Frank leaned back to check her out. "You're going to be all right," he told her.

She nodded, her tears slowly running dry.

Frank sighed. "I hope I haven't hurt you too much with my hug. I just…" He sort of apologized. Well, at least he was aware that he must have hurt her.

Steph though just shook her head, a smile forming on her face. "I needed it as much as you, Dad."

At her words I had to smile. And I smiled more when she suddenly frowned at him. "How come you're here?"

I suppressed a snicker. Oh yeah, Frank had a lot of things to explain to her. And I knew from experience that she would pester him with her questions for a long time to come. Hehe. That almost made it up for me that he neglected to tell me the additional risk his true job presented for my wife.

Almost.

But it really was strangely satisfying for me to see the mighty Icewolf squirm under his daughter's scrutinizing eyes. "That, Kitten, is a very long story that can wait for much longer," he finally evaded the question.

At her expression I nearly laughed out. Oh, didn't I know _that_ look... Tank in fact actually snorted. Already anticipating what reaction Steph would show to that I wisely stepped a bit away to avoid the famous Burg glare. But the glare vanished the second she saw me, her eyes widening, and the world stood still.

Our eyes met and I forgot everything and everyone but her. I could almost see our souls reaching out to the other one, meeting, melting into each other and all I could think of was how much I needed her, how much I missed her, this feeling of completeness whenever I was with her.

"Stephanie," I mouthed, my voice failing me. "Babe."

And with that word, my very own name for my angel, the world was crushing back on us and in a heartbeat I was beside her, enclosing her into my arms. Finally! I had longed so very much for her to be back in my arms.

"Oh God, Ric," Steph moaned, her voice so thick with emotions I wondered how she was able to speak at all. But it was enough. More than enough.

Feeling exactly like her, I tightened my hold on her, my need to reunite with her overwhelming. I knew I would never be able to say something, to find the right words. But I doubted it was necessary, we had a too deep understanding of each other for that. Besides, I always had been better at showing my love for her than naming it. So I kissed her, kissed her like I've had never kissed her before. I've almost lost her. Hell, I've thought I'd lost her, and this experience had shown me like nothing else how much I loved and needed her and I poured all of these new findings, this new deepness of my love for her into that first, single kiss. The passion and fervor with what she responded me equally nearly made my heart burst with the sensation of the power of her love and it brought me back to earth a bit. Suddenly growing aware of my tight grip on her, I eased up and started to tenderly stroke over the sensitive skin on her back in order to apologize for hurting her, never breaking my kiss though.

But somehow this must have opened some dam of hers as well, because suddenly her body heaved with sobs once again and she broke away from our kiss to press herself against me, her arms nearly crashing my rips, so tight was her grip on me. Not that I minded, not at all. To the contrary, her embrace suddenly grew on me and a sob of my own ripped out of my throat. Involuntarily I drew her closer to me by tightening my arms around her again. Every sense of control I had left after this horrendous days left me and not able to help myself I buried my head into the crook of her neck, with each quavering breath I took inhaling her scent, her essence into me, reassuring myself that this wasn't a dream, that she really was safe in my arms again.

As my tears fell onto her skin, my Babe drew me even closer to her, her hand stroking through my hair and all I felt was bliss. The soldier's mission was done. I had my Babe back. Letting go of Ranger, I became the husband again, gathering her even closer to me as a deep sense of happiness slowly settled down in my heart and soul.

I was home again.

* * *

TBC!

_(Author's Note: So, there you have it - the last chapter. Though there will be a small epilogue, the major part of this story is over now. I hoped you liked the conclusion of the adventure, even though it was very kitschy. Thanks once again for the reviews! )_


	12. Epilogue

_**Epilogue**_

Ric fired, his face a mask of satisfaction. He turned to me and handed me his gun with a smile. Smiling back, I took it, but not before using the opportunity to quickly give him a deep kiss. Finally, I broke it and pushed him away from me so I could take my shot. Slowly, I raised my arm and pointed the gun at the one thing truly responsible for my near death experience in the Sahara.

I pulled the trigger.

God, that felt good! Gloating triumphantly at my victim I laughed. "Take that!" I exclaimed with satisfaction and, just because it was such a good feeling, fired another shot at it.

With a smile I turned back to Ric and handed him his gun back.

Stealing a kiss himself he gave me a lopsided grin while he tucked the gun away and turned to Tank, who was already waiting impatiently, and gave him the green light to go on ahead.

Tank signaled back and disappeared through the hatch. Ric took my hand and let me away so we wouldn't be in Tank's way. He slipped his hands around my waist while I leaned against his strong chest to watch the show. Almost immediately I felt his fingers slipping under the rim of my shirt to rub small circles on my stomach. I shuddered, need flaming up and I couldn't help but moan, leaning more into my husband. I heard as his breath caught and most importantly felt his own growing need pressing against me. Closing my eyes, I wriggled myself against him and now it was his turn to moan.

A discreet cough from the side though stopped us before we got lost even more in our own little sex filled world. With a deep sigh I looked over to my dad. What did he want? I've been ordered rest, naming no sex, for the last three weeks and Ric and I only had been able to make love again last night. Needless to say that we were both pretty sleep deprived, not that we had any complains about that. And one night hardly could make up for an entire month of no sex! We had a lot to catch up on. Especially after what we both had to go through! So I thought our control was even ramarkably right now.

But Dad just gave Ric this look fathers give the men of their daughters since the beginning of humankind and Ric promptly loosened his hold on me and slipped his hands out from under my shirt.

I glared at my father. "Dad!" I growled.

His stern eyes turned to mine. "I cut Ricardo a lot of liberties, but I will not stand here and watch him groping my little girl."

"Well, then why don't you just go and safe the world somewhere far away so we can make out all we want?" I grumpily suggested.

Ric's chest behind me rumbled with silent laughter.

Dad shrugged. "Because I'm your father and supposed to make Ricardo's life a living hell. And because I want to see this show. Besides, the world is safe for the moment," he added with a smile.

I gave him another glare, but smiled inwardly. I think Dad loved that he could talk freely about his job with me now. Well, as freely as a NSA agent can do that.

Unbelievable. My dad the spy! I didn't believe him when he had told me at first. It took a lot to convince me that this was really the truth and not some joke of the guys. Only after I saw his badge, spoke with his men and let Mom and his boss confirm it to me did I finally believe it. But how cool was that?! My father a spy, untiringly saving the world time and time again! No wonder I fell so hard for Ric when I met him. And found my way to bounty hunting for that matter.

It was in my blood.

That didn't mean though that I wasn't still angry with Dad for not telling me the truth earlier. Really, that I first had to get kidnapped and nearly killed by one of his enemies before he spilled the beans to me! I was a bit disappointed about that. It hurt. But I knew that soon, the sting would disappear. And it was actually excellent 'guilt-evoking' material! So yeah, I'll forgive him – soon. First I wanted to let myself get spoiled a bit more though.

The deafening roar of a motor made me look back over to the slowly approaching Tank. Eager to not miss a second of the show I straightened up a bit, quickly looking up to Ric, whose eyes held a strange shining. I looked inquiringly at Dad, only to see that he wore an identical expression. Like totally gogglying. I frowned, looked back to Ric and he nearly had saber coming out of the corner of his mouth! Shaking my head, I turned my head back front. Men! Really, give them a tank and they go all dopey gooey, even the best of them…

Though I had to admit it had something to see the massive vehicle rolling towards us, picking up speed by the second. I guessed it really must be an exhilarating feeling to have such power under you, in your hands. Hmm, actually strange that Ric let Tank have the honor and had not insisted on driving the tank himself. On the other hand, we were here to take revenge and you really saw the final death of the damn cucumber way better from the outside. Besides, I think we had to return the tank only tomorrow. A lot of time for Ric teaching me the ropes and making a little trip in the tank. After all, you never know when it could come in handy to know how to steer a tank. Perhaps I could even convince him to let me shoot something to hell.

With a smile I snuggled closer to Ric, his hold tightening automatically. He laid his chin on my shoulder and silently we watched as the panzer mercilessly squished the damn cucumber once and for all. My heart lightened and I let out a loud whoohoop! Finally! Ric laughed and quickly gave me a lingering kiss onto my neck, right over his mark there from last night, sending jingles all through my body. We watched as Tank made a turn and came back, rolling another time over the last remains of the stupid cucumber.

Probably it was crazy to feel such euphoria at taking revenge on a cucumber. But really. First the damn thing caused a major fight in my marriage, a fight that could have put a real rift between Ric and me. Because of that fight, namely because of the damn cucumber, I've went on a run and Ric let me go and it was a child's play for Moknar to kidnap me and nearly kill me. Now, I knew that Moknar would probably have found a way to get me anyway. And it was nothing new for me to nearly die, though it had been real close this time. Not to mention the long healing process after the merciless sun of Africa had nearly burned my entire skin and the heat stroke. The doctors in the hospital in Alger had told us that only a few more hours in the sun and there would have been no rescue for me. If not for the Kel Rela…

Before we've flown back to the States we had gone back to them to thank them for saving me. Locals had told us that they would take affront if we offered them something for their help, but still, Ric and Dad had organized a cargo load of medicines. And indeed they first didn't want to know anything about that. But Ric simply said that this was not a gift for their help but for all the people in the future they could safe like they had saved me. Finally, Andais accepted them.

And of course I know that we probably would have had that fight sooner or later. The topic would have come up sometime, like it had after Ric's comment about my craving for a cucumber that morning. We would have discovered our so profound different views about this particular question and had gotten into the same big fight. The only good thing about it was that it had happened before it already had been too late, giving me time to work on a solution for the problem. I know I havn't changed my opinion, never would. But if that near death experience had shown me anything then it was that I simply needed Ric. And as he couldn't live without me, as this experience had shown loud and clearly to him as well, I'd need to find some compromise with him. The next time something like this happened, Ric would have more to live for than just me, more reasons to not simply despair and give up. I needed him to. What the guys, especially Dad and Tank, had told me about how Ric had reacted to my kidnapping and even worse to believing my supposed death… it scared the hell out of me. I didn't want that responsibility, literally holding his life in my hands. So I'd talk to him. We'd find a way to combine his needs with mine.

We had avoided the topic so far. We've talked about a lot of things, about my kidnapping, my experience in the Sahara, his search for me, his desperation. But we never talked about the fight that had started everything, nor did we approach the tricky issue. Still, I sensed that like me, Ric was thinking about it as well and I actually thought that this episode had made him become at least a bit more open about this special topic than before. That, and perhaps also to see how Dad had managed to solve the same problem Ric had. I wasn't sure, but I think Ric once even went to talk to Dad about it. And I felt that all would turn out good in the end. It would still take some time, long talks and discussions, probably also a few more fights, but in the end we would overcame that obstacle like we had every single one else in our relationship. I just knew it.

But it was still the damn cucumber that triggered all these events and after cursing it time and time again it just felt good to kill it once and for all as some sort of closing. Besides, who could guess what the damn cucumber would cause next? Nope, it was best it got taken care of.

Tank had stopped the tank and had climbed out of it with a big grin. He studied the remains of his victim on the ground, then turned proudly to us. "Now that's what I call compost!" he exclaimed and high fived with Ric.

Ric just grinned.

I freed myself from Ric's arms and went to Tank to give him a big hug. "Thanks, Tank."

He returned the hug. "Nothing to thank for, Bombshell. That was fun," he said as he released me.

Dad nodded. "Yeah, fun it was. And I hoped you enjoyed it, Forrester, because this was the last time for a while to come. I believe I owe you a lesson," he casually said, his eyes hardening so that even I shivered a bit in fear. "The lesson starts now. Get into the car," he ordered and turned to me and Ric. "Manoso, don't lose my little girl again."

"I won't, Sir," Ric responded seriously.

"You better," Dad calmly said then hugged me. "See you at dinner tomorrow, Kitten."

I nodded. "Thanks, Dad," I whispered in his ear and gave him a kiss onto the cheek.

His hold tightened. "Love you," he whispered back.

Tears swam in my eyes and I quickly closed them. "Love you more," I whispered back, like I had always done as a kid.

Dad released me then and gave me a last smile before he cleared his face to a stern, irritated mask and turned back to Tank, frowning. "What are you waiting for? Move your lazy ass," he ordered, walking away.

I have to say it's almost scary to see a man Tank's size blanching like that. Tank threw us a panicked, pleadingly look.

Ric shrugged his shoulders. "Can't help you there, buddy," he said sympathetically.

I suppressed a giggle and made an effort to look compassionate as well.

"Forrester!" Dad bellowed from his car.

Hanging his head, Tank slowly started for that direction. A few feet away he turned back to us. "Remember, I want a cremation. And look after my plants, yeah?" he said to Ric.

Ric solemnly nodded.

"Forrester!"

With a sigh and a last sad puppy dog look toward us he trotted over to dad's car. I waited until they disappeared before I burst out, laughing hard.

Ric smiled as well, but indeed looked a bit worried. "You think he'll survive?" he asked, only half joking.

I shook my head, laughing even harder. "Ric, of course. Dad won't hurt him." Ric still looked doubtful. Calming down, I raised my eyebrows. "You don't really think that my father would hurt him, don't you?"

"Babe, I've seen Icewolf in action. That man is capable of anything."

I rolled my eyes. "Tank will only get a lesson." Remembering some of the 'lessons' I had received from my dad in my life, I shuddered. Dad really knew how to make his point. "A lesson he'll never forget. But Dad won't hurt him. He likes him."

Ric just looked incredulously at me.

"He does," I assured him. "And he likes you."

Now he raised an eyebrow. "Hardly. I'm the one banging his daughter, remember?"

At the word 'banging' I suddenly got flashes from the night before and I'm pretty sure I blushed, judging Ric's cocky wolfgrin. I stepped to him and stroked with my fingers over his chest. "Legally banging me, remember. That's all it takes. That, and being an ex soldier, liking sports, driving good cars even if they are not American and being nice to me," I said hushed. "Besides, I don't see you banging me right now."

His wolfgrin turned predatory and he lowered his face towards me. "That I can change right now."

I smiled suggestively, raising my lips towards him. "Ever made it in a tank?" I asked innocently.

"Babe." His eyes darkened, his arms seized me against him and he crashed his lips against mine and I forgot everything but my man in my arms.

_**The End**_

* * *

_(Author's Note: Voilà, this baby is finished! I hope you enjoyed it! As it is, thank you so much for all of you who reviewed and let me know how you liked it! It's the salt in every writer's motivation I think._

_I still have some old stories on the backburner and I'm planning to post them all - along with at least one new one I'm working on. For now, those who liked this one, look out for 'Charming the Wizard'. Thanks again and until soon!)_


End file.
